THE 
 
 FOUR SEASONS.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR, 
 BREAD STREET HILL.

 
 SPRING 
 
 PLATE I 
 
 ipeneti 
 
 WALL-FLOWER
 
 THE 
 
 easons; 
 
 A SHOUT ACCOUNT OK 
 
 THE STRUCTURE OF PLANTS. 
 
 jfmrr 
 
 v_^ 
 
 WRITTEN FOR THE WORKING MEN'S INSTITUTE IN PARIS. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 "O ALL VK GREEN THINGS UPON THE EARTH, BLESS YE THE LORD : PRAISE 
 
 HIM AND MAGNIFY HlM FOR EVER." 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 GRIFFITH AXD FAERAX, 
 
 SUCCESSORS TO NEWBERY AND HARRIS, 
 
 CORKER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. 
 
 MDCCCLXV.
 
 TO 
 
 SIR WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, 
 
 D.C.L. OXON. F.R.S. F.S.A. F.L.S. 
 
 CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, 
 AND DIRECTOR OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS OF KEW, 
 
 MY EXCELLENT OLD FRIEND, 
 
 3 Jebkafe tjjis $olun, 
 
 WITH HIS KIND PERMISSION. 
 
 S. M. Frffcm 
 
 RUE DE LA VlLLE L'EvfiQTJE, PARIS, 
 
 Nat-ember, 1864.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SPRING. 
 
 PACK 
 
 CRU'CTFORM PLANTS 1 
 
 PLATE I. WALL-FLOWER. 
 
 SUMMER. 
 
 LEGU'MINOUS PLANTS 25 
 
 PLATE II. SWEET PEA. 
 
 AUTUMN. 
 
 C'OM'POSITE PLANTS .41 
 
 PLATE III. CHINA ASTER. 
 
 WINTER. 
 
 FLOWEBLESS PLANTS 56 
 
 PLATE IV. FEKN, Moss, LICHEN, SEA-WEED, MUSHROOM. 
 
 2091 1 52
 
 THE 
 
 FOUR SEASONS 
 
 SPRING. 
 
 CRU'CIFORM PLANTS. 
 
 WALL-FLOWER. 
 
 LET us picture to ourselves two persons looking at 
 a water-mill in full work, one of them totally 
 unacquainted with mechanics, the other a civil 
 engineer. How different will be the effect pro- 
 duced upon the mind of each. The one may be 
 impressed with a sense of weariness from the mono- 
 
 B
 
 2 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 tonous movement of the huge wheels and the plash 
 of water recurring at regular intervals; while the 
 other sees an important result produced by inge- 
 nious mechanical combinations. And so, in every 
 subject, an initiated observer sees much that is 
 hidden from the sight of others. We all instinc- 
 tively delight in flowers for the sake of their 
 beauty and sweet smell, and who does not recollect 
 the gladness of some sick friend when they carried 
 to his bedside a handful of freshly-gathered violets 
 in the early Spring ? But as soon as we have 
 seen some of the wonderful contrivances that exist 
 in even the most simple plant, we look at flowers, 
 as it were, with new eyes, we read them like a 
 living book, and thoughts of a still higher perfec- 
 tion fill our hearts. It is with the hope of adding 
 to your enjoyment during the coming days of 
 summer, that I now purpose to give you a short 
 account of the structure and qualities of a few of 
 the plants that most of us have loved from child- 
 hood, when we "toddled o'er the brae and pu'd 
 the gowans fine." 
 
 As it will not be possible to show you through 
 a microscope the internal organization of plants, 
 I can allude to it but very slightly; and my
 
 SPRING. 3 
 
 descriptions must be limited to their outward frame- 
 work only, to that which meets the eye, and which 
 all who run may read. You, on your part, will 
 remember that my object is not so much to impart 
 botanical knowledge as to open up to you a never- 
 failing source of innocent and healthful occupation. 
 I have chosen the common Wall-flower for our 
 example at this season, because it is very easily 
 obtained, and it remains in blow for a long time, 
 from the beginning of February usually to the end 
 of May. 
 
 You need not be reminded that the part of a 
 plant that grows downwards into the ground is 
 commonly called the Eoot. Roots do not produce 
 either leaves, buds, or flowers. The branches of the 
 root are called Fibres. From the top of the root the 
 Stem shoots up into the air and light, and is gene- 
 rally clothed with leaves and branches. The points 
 of the stem from which the leaves and branches 
 spring are called the Nodes, or knots. The branch 
 always proceeds from the axil of a leaf, that is to 
 say, from that part of the stem from which a leaf 
 springs. The little stalks that support the leaves 
 in a great number of plants are called Leaf-stalks 
 or Pedicles, from pediculus, diminutive of pes, 
 
 B2
 
 4 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 the Latin for foot, to signify little foot, and the 
 broader spreading part is called the Blade. When a 
 leaf is spoken of the blade is usually meant, whether 
 there be a leaf-stalk or not. On those branches of 
 the Wall-flower that bear flowers the leaf-stalk is 
 hardly perceptible, but in the leaves that grow 
 nearer the ground it is very distinct. The leaf- 
 stalk is composed of several thread-like hollow ves- 
 sels, which branch out upon the blade as it widens. 
 Some of them run directly to the highest point 
 of the leaf, and form what is called the Midrib, 
 which we see in the middle of most leaves, some- 
 what depressed on the upper surface, and standing 
 out in relief on the under surface. The smaller 
 ribs that form a sort of network on each side of the 
 midrib are called Nerves or Veins. The word nerve 
 comes from the Greek word vevpov, which means 
 cord, thread, orjibre. In some leaves, those of reeds 
 and grass for instance, the veins do not form a net- 
 work, but run at once to the highest point, where 
 they meet. They are then said to be Parallel, for 
 want of a more correct expression. The fibres of 
 the root imbibe juices from the earth, which ascend 
 very rapidly through little pipe-like vessels within 
 the stem till they reach the veins of the leaves,
 
 SPRING. 5 
 
 where a certain portion is converted into the Sap 
 with which the plant is nourished. 
 
 The relative position of the root and the stem is 
 evidently essential to the well-being of the plant ; 
 for, when a tree has been turned upside down, root- 
 like fibres strike downwards into the earth from the 
 branches then upon the ground, and young leaves 
 shoot upwards from the root which is exposed to 
 the air and light. In like manner when a branch 
 is inverted each leaf will gradually right itself and 
 return to its natural position with the upper surface 
 towards the sky, and the under surface towards the 
 ground. 
 
 Again, if we place a green leaf with its upper 
 surface downwards upon a saucer of water it will 
 keep fresh for some days, but if we place another 
 leaf of the same plant with its under surface upon 
 the water it will keep fresh for as many weeks. 
 The leaves of the mulberry tree show this very 
 clearly. The reason for the difference arises from 
 the different structure of the two surfaces of 
 leaves ; the under surface being furnished with a 
 great number of minute vessels, like pores or tubes, 
 through which moisture is imbibed and evaporated, 
 while the upper surface has no pores, and acts
 
 6 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 as a defence to the leaf. Those breathing pores 
 of leaves have been, not inaptly, likened to the 
 lungs of animals, for they appear to perform very 
 similar functions. 
 
 Let us now look at our Wall-flower. (Plate I. 
 Fig. 1.) When real flowers are not to be had we must 
 content ourselves with drawings. The four green 
 leaves tinged with purply-brown, close to the top of 
 the little stalk that supports the flower, are called 
 Se'pals. The word sepal comes from the Latin word 
 separ, and signifies divided into segments. They 
 form the Ca'lyx or flower-cup. The word calyx 
 comes from the Greek word /ca\uf, which signifies 
 the bark or outer case of flowers, and not from 
 KV\I%, which means a goblet or cup. (Fig. 1.) 
 The calyx generally covers up and protects the 
 young flower while it is not yet unfolded, and after- 
 wards supports the several parts of it in their proper 
 places. The shape of the calyx varies in different 
 plants ; in some it is composed of but one piece, 
 when it is said to be Mono-sepalous, and in others 
 it is not required, and therefore does not exist. 
 
 The four yellow leaves that come up out of the 
 calyx are called Pet'als, or blossom-leaves. The 
 word petal comes from the Greek word irera\ov,
 
 SPRING. 7 
 
 which means a leaf. (Fig. 1.) They form the 
 Blossom or Corolla. Corolla is the diminutive of 
 corona, crown. The lower whitish part of a petal 
 shaped like that of the Wall-flower, is called the 
 Claw, the spreading upper part the Limb or Border. 
 (Fig. 2.) The claw of the petal is really the leaf- 
 stalk, and the border the blade. In some plants 
 the blossom is Mono-pet'alous, that is to say, it is 
 composed of but one piece : in others there are no 
 petals at all, because they are not wanted. 
 
 If we gently pull off the calyx and petals of one 
 of our flowers, we shall find seven threads standing- 
 upright on the top of the little stalk. (Fig. 3.) The 
 shortest thread, that which is in the middle, is thicker 
 than the other six, and its lower part is of a pale 
 green colour. It is called the Pistil, and is composed 
 of three parts, the Ovary, the Style, and the Stigma 
 or Summit. (Fig. 4.) The ovary is the lowest and 
 thickest part. It contains the future seeds of the 
 plant. When they grow within it, it becomes very 
 much larger and is then called the Seed-vessel. The 
 style is like a neck or very small column on the top 
 of the ovary, and on the top of the style we find the 
 stigma. The six whitish threads, with yellow heads, 
 that stand round the pistil, are called Stamens. The
 
 8 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 word stamen comes from the Greek word 
 which means a thread or filament. The word 
 Pistil comes from pistillum, the Latin for pillar. 
 In several plants the pistil has the form of a pillar. 
 Style comes from the Greek word a-Tv\os, which sig- 
 nifies a column. The pistil may be compared to a 
 pillar, of which the ovary represents the pedestal, 
 the style the column, and the stigma or summit 
 the capital. The word stigma is the Greek for 
 seal or stamp. In some plants the stigma resem- 
 bles the sort of seal or stamp which the ancient 
 Greeks used when they stigmatized or condemned 
 their criminal prisoners. Each stamen (Fig. 5.) 
 is composed of two parts ; the whitish thread 
 called a Filament, which is in reality the leaf-stalk, 
 and the head, which is called an Anther, and 
 comes from avdrjpos, the Greek for flowered, and 
 which corresponds to the blade of the leaf in a 
 modified form. The anther is a sort of bag which is 
 divided into two pouches or cells by a partition 
 down the middle. When the flower unfolds, a fine 
 yellow powder, called Pollen or Farina, is scattered 
 from those cells through an opening or slit. The use 
 of the pollen is to make the seeds within the pistil 
 grow. In the Tulip the pollen is black, and in some
 
 SPRING. 9 
 
 other flowers it is of a bright orange colour, but it is 
 generally yellow, as we see it in the Wall-flower. 
 Two of the stamens in the Wall-flower, those 
 which stand within the side sepals of the calyx, are 
 shorter than the four that stand between them, their 
 filaments being bulged or pushed outwards by a 
 green fleshy substance, or gland, that surrounds each 
 of them at the base like a ring. You will not be 
 able to see those glands distinctly without the help 
 of a magnifying glass. (Fig. 3.) 
 
 When the petals of the Wall-flower fall off, the 
 stamens begin to wither, and the ovary, or seed- 
 vessel, as it is then called, becomes a long narrow 
 Pod. (Fig. 6.) The two outer valves or shells of the 
 pod are separated by a partition, composed of two 
 very thin gauze-like membranes, which are held to- 
 gether at the edges by some of the thread-like vessels 
 carried on from the little stalk that supported the 
 flower. The flat seeds -grow upon each surface of 
 that partition, and their little bent stalks spring alter- 
 nately from the opposite edges, so that they cannot 
 crowd against each other. (Fig. 7.) In all plants, 
 the part that contains the seed is called the Fruit, 
 whether it be good for us to eat or not and, for this 
 reason, the little stalk, which at first supports the
 
 10 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 flower and then the seed-vessel, is called the Fruit- 
 stalk. The top part of the fruit-stalk is generally 
 somewhat thickened, and upon it all the parts of 
 the flower grow. It is called the Receptacle. (Fig. 8.) 
 The receptacle of the Wall-flower is not conspicuous, 
 but in some other plants it is very large. In the 
 Artichoke, for instance, the receptacle is the part that 
 remains after the leaves and the bristly choke have 
 been removed. 
 
 The Wall-flower is Perennial, which means that 
 it lives for more than two years. When we say that 
 a plant lives, nothing more is meant than that it is 
 capable of deriving nourishment from surrounding 
 substances. Plants are said to be Annual when they 
 bear leaves and flowers in one year and then die, and 
 Biennial if they live two years. Perennials of warm 
 regions often live but one year with us, their roots 
 being killed by the cold ; our perennials, on the con- 
 trary, generally die within a year if they are removed 
 to a hot country, because their roots are deprived 
 of necessary moisture. 
 
 Owing to some admirable peculiarity in its struc- 
 ture, each kind of plant is especially adapted to that 
 very climate in which it is destined to live, and to 
 no other, with the exception of grass, w r hich is en-
 
 SPRING. 11 
 
 dowed with the faculty of growing in every climate 
 and in every sort of soil. Some plants require ex- 
 treme heat, while others grow best in the midst of 
 ice. What are called Alpine plants grow wild on 
 mountains only ; other plants of a different nature 
 frequent shady valleys, and some thrive best on 
 open plains. Aquatic plants grow nowhere but in 
 fresh water, and Marine plants are entirely confined 
 to the sea, while some few live on the sea shore, 
 but are never covered by the salt water. The Sam- 
 phire that is pickled and used in cooking, is one of 
 those coast plants, and the knowledge of its habits 
 afforded unspeakable comfort to some sailors who 
 were once wrecked very near land at Beachy Head 
 in Sussex. The night was dark, and they groped their 
 way up to the top of some rocks at the foot of the 
 cliff, but they expected every moment to be washed 
 away by the high waves. One of them felt a tuft 
 of Samphire that was growing at his feet, and he 
 was then able to assure his companions of compara- 
 tive safety, which encouraged them to wait without 
 anxiety till daylight, when they could easily attract 
 the attention of the people, and obtain all the help 
 they wanted. 
 
 In the Polar regions, where the cold is about 5
 
 12 THE POUR SEASONS. 
 
 Fahrenheit, or 27 below freezing, plants are low 
 in stature, and have small compressed leaves. The 
 Fir tree too, which thrives best in cold countries, has 
 narrow sharp-pointed leaves that do not obstruct the 
 snow on its way from the sky to the ground. If the 
 leaves were broader the snow might lodge amongst 
 them and break the branches by its weight. The 
 climate becomes hotter and hotter as we descend 
 from the North Pole to the Equator, where the 
 average annual temperature is about 84 Fahren- 
 heit. There the plants require to be shaded from 
 the direct rays of the sun, and accordingly their 
 leaves are generally very broad. The gigantic Palms 
 that grow on the hot tropical plains, and which 
 sometimes attain the height of more than a hundred 
 feet, would suffer from exposure to the great heat 
 were they not protected by proportionately large 
 leaves, which spring out from the top of their tall 
 columnar stems. These fan the air, and afford 
 shelter to the plant on every side, somewhat in 
 the manner of an enormous feathery umbrella. 
 Even in our own little Strawberry plants, we see 
 how carefully the large leaves cover up and pro- 
 tect the flowers and young fruit, keeping them cool 
 and fresh ; but Apple trees and other trees, of which
 
 SPRING. 13 
 
 the fruit is less tender and needs no such protec- 
 tion, have comparatively small leaves. 
 
 It is to be remarked that the leaves of trees al- 
 ways grow more abundantly on the side of the stem 
 which is exposed to the south, than on the side 
 turned towards the north. The knowledge of this 
 circumstance is invaluable to the poor Laplanders, 
 who might easily lose their way in their long jour- 
 neys through wild pathless regions if they had not 
 some such natural compass to guide them. The in- 
 habitants of other countries also make use of their 
 observation of the natural appearances that surround 
 them. Some tribes of American Indians, for instance, 
 plant out their corn when the wild Plum blooms, or 
 when the young leaves of the Oak are about the size 
 of a squirrel's ears. Their names, too, of the dif- 
 ferent months express the state of vegetation, such 
 as the Budding-month, the Flowering-month, the 
 Strawberry-month, the Mulberry-month and so on ; 
 and their word that denotes Autumn signifies The 
 fall of the leaf. 
 
 The leaves of other plants, as well as those of 
 trees, evince a very decided partiality for the light 
 of the sun, and turn towards it with avidity, as we 
 can see in the pots of Geraniums most people are so
 
 14 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 fond of cultivating in their windows. And here it 
 may be well to observe, that the keeping either 
 growing plants or cut flowers in sleeping-rooms, is 
 considered by many persons to be not only unwhole- 
 some, but dangerous on account of the carbonic acid 
 gas which they give out, and which is of the same 
 nature as the fumes of charcoal. 
 
 "When deprived of sun-light, plants become colour- 
 less, and their stems are apt to trail towards the 
 ground. The outer leaves of a Cabbage are green, 
 but the short leaves that form the heart are of a 
 pale yellowish hue. In like manner that part of a 
 head of Celery which has been what we call " earthed 
 up " is perfectly white, and the natural dark green 
 colour melts into the pale leaf-stalks just where the 
 light begins to approach it. No doubt the warm 
 light enjoyed by tropical flowers has an effect upon 
 their colours which are much more glowing and 
 vivid than the blue, white, and pale lilac so pre- 
 valent in the flowers of cold countries. 
 
 But we must go back to our Wall-flower. The 
 blossom, as we have seen, is composed of four petals. 
 (Fig. 1.) They are so placed as to form a sort of 
 cross, two and two opposite to each other. All 
 flowers of which the petals are placed in a like man-
 
 SPUING. 15 
 
 ner, and also the plants that bear them, are said to 
 be Cross-shaped or Cruciform. Cruciform plants 
 have so decidedly a marked unmistakable natural 
 character peculiar to themselves, that they form one 
 of the Natural Families or Orders, to some one of 
 which every known plant is assigned. The plants 
 belonging to each natural family are sub-divided 
 into Tribes, and they again into Genera and Species. 
 A Genus, the singular of the word Genera, comprises 
 plants that agree in certain points of structure, gene- 
 rally of their flowers and fruit, and resemble one 
 another more than any other plants. A Species in- 
 cludes plants that agree as to the generic character, 
 but differ from each other in some other respects, 
 it may be in the leaves, the stem, or the root. 
 For instance, there are a great many sorts of Rose 
 which all belong to one particular genus. We have 
 the Dog Rose, the Moss Rose, the China Rose, and 
 several others, all of the Rose genus. Thus it is 
 that every plant is distinguished by two names, 
 one, the Generic name for the genus to which it 
 belongs, the second to denote some peculiarity 
 that marks the species, and which is called the 
 Specific name. If we were to talk of a Dog Rose, 
 a Moss Rose, and a China Rose to a Turk or a
 
 16 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 Spaniard, lie would not, perhaps, understand us, nor 
 should we recognise those plants if we heard their 
 Turkish or their Spanish names, but with their 
 botanical names, Eosa Canina, Rosa Muscdsa, and 
 Rosa In'dicus, we could always convey to one 
 another that we were speaking of three distinct 
 species of the genus Rosa. Latin and Greek being 
 the most universally understood of all languages, 
 the botanical names of plants are generally derived 
 from either one or the other, while the names in the 
 language of the country in which they grow are 
 kept for home use. For instance, the Ranun'culus, 
 or Crow-foot family, has its name from Rana, the 
 Latin for frog, which expresses the cold damp 
 situations inhabited by frogs, and in which several 
 genera of that tribe grow. Ranunculus pratensis, 
 from pratum, the Latin for a meadow, denotes the 
 species of Ranunculus found in a meadow ; our 
 Buttercup, in fact, called in French, Bouton d'Or. 
 Again, Ranunculus palustris, from palm, the Latin 
 for a marsh, indicates the species that grows in 
 marshes ; and Ranunculus Asiaticus, the showy gar- 
 den species which first came to us from Asia. The 
 genus Anemone', belonging to the Ranunculus tribe, 
 has its name from avefjios, the Greek for wind, to
 
 SPRING. 1 7 
 
 express that the plant grows in places exposed to 
 the wind, or that its flowers are in blow at the time 
 of the vernal equinox, when the wind is generally 
 pretty high. Our early spring Hepat'ica is a species 
 of Anem'one. And here it may be well to remark, 
 that in the names of plants, the E at the end is 
 usually sounded, so that Anem'one is pronounced 
 An-em'-o-ne, like nee, and not An-e-mone like tone. 
 The Clematis, the Christmas Kose, Larkspur, and 
 Paeony, all of them garden flowers, also belong 
 to the Kanun'culus family. Sometimes a genus 
 takes the name of its t discoverer, or that of some 
 remarkable person. For instance, the genus Brown'ea 
 is so called after Kobert Brown, the well known 
 botanist, and the genus Fuch'sia after Fuchs, a 
 German botanist. The Fuchsia is a South Ameri- 
 can plant of the Evening Primrose family. 
 
 Some of our most common and useful vegetables 
 are cruciform plants, such as the Cabbage, a nume- 
 rous genus, of which the cultivated varieties include 
 several sorts of white and red cabbage with smooth 
 or curled leaves, Brocoli, Kale, Brussels Sprouts, and 
 Cauliflower. The peculiarity in the growth of the 
 cauliflower arises from the flower-branches having 
 been squeezed down in such a manner as to force 
 
 c
 
 18 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 the sap to remain in the fruit-stalks, which causes 
 them to become thick and fleshy, with white grainy 
 heads. A Variety only differs from a species in colour, 
 size, or smell. The sorts of Cabbage we have men- 
 tioned may, therefore, be traced back to their com- 
 mon origin, the wild Cabbage, Brassica campestris, 
 of which the Turnip, Mustard, and Colza or Rape 
 that yields so much oil from its seeds, are three 
 species. Water-cresses, Radishes, and Horse-radish 
 also belong to the Cruciform family. The flowers 
 of all those plants are insignificant to the eye, and 
 have generally either white or lemon-coloured 
 blossoms. 
 
 No cruciform plants are poisonous in their nature ; 
 but some of them, when they grow near water, ac- 
 quire such an acrid disagreeable flavour that they 
 cannot be eaten. Our prettiest garden flowers of 
 this family are the Virginian Stock, with blossoms 
 of every possible tint of lilac ; the white, pink, and 
 purple Candy-tuft, which is distinguished by the 
 two adjoining outside petals being larger than the 
 other two ; and our old friend the Wall-flower. 
 
 The most beautiful of all Spring flowers are those 
 which belong to the family of Liliaceous plants, of 
 which we see examples in the Tulip, Lily-of-the-
 
 SPRING. 1 9 
 
 valley, Bluebell, Hyacinth, Tuberose, and Fritillary. 
 In one species of Fritillary, the Crown Imperial, an 
 Eastern plant, the flowers contain a great quantity 
 of honey, but the whole plant is of so poisonous a 
 nature that bees will not go near it. The faculty 
 that is given to most creatures of distinguishing 
 noxious from wholesome plants is a great boon to 
 all, for it enables each to find its appropriate food, 
 and none are left without subsistence, what is best 
 liked by some being distasteful to others. 
 
 The garden Hyacinth was first brought into Europe 
 from the Levant. A Dutch florist took such a fancy 
 to the flower that he devoted himself to its culture, 
 in which he spared neither trouble nor expense. 
 For a long time he used to throw away the bulbs 
 that produced double flowers, which he looked upon 
 as monstrosities, and cared for those only with single 
 flowers as being the more natural, and therefore the 
 more deserving of admiration. At last the beauty 
 of a splendid double blue one attracted his notice. 
 He took it into his collection, and raised others 
 from it, which he sold for fabulously high prices, 
 two hundred pounds having been paid for a single 
 bulb sometimes. 
 
 The bulb contains within it the bud of the future 
 c 2
 
 20 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 plant, which remains quietly in its winter quarters 
 till Spring returns to call it forth. Fibrous roots 
 then shoot downwards to the earth from the flat- 
 tened under surface of the bulb, and presently a 
 shining green spot appears at its top. The points of 
 leaves begin to push upwards, and, before long, show 
 us the young flower-buds closely packed together, 
 and of a delicate green colour. Gradually the stalk 
 rises, day by day the little buds expand to the 
 light, the blossoms assume their true colours, and 
 then, we have a lovely flower which may well have 
 enchanted the Dutch florist when he beheld it for 
 the first time. 
 
 Flowers that have a greater number of petals 
 than usual are said to be Double. Cultivation and 
 richness of soil often bring this about by causing 
 some of the stamens to be transformed into petals. 
 When all the stamens undergo this change the flower 
 is said to be Full. In order to bring back the plant 
 to its natural state, it should be placed in poorer 
 soil, or, in other words, be put upon low diet, which 
 will, by degrees, starve it down. 
 
 The White Lily, the pride of every garden, is not 
 in blow till about the middle of May. The blossom 
 is bell-shaped, and the six white filaments support
 
 SPRING. 21 
 
 large gold-coloured anthers. The leaves are flat, 
 with parallel veins, and the stem rises from a bulb, 
 of which some of the scales are the bases of the 
 decayed leaves of the preceding year, and others 
 the undeveloped leaves of the year that is to come. 
 The Orange Lily, the Scarlet Martagon, and the 
 Turn-cap Lilies, do not generally flower till the end 
 of June, or early in July. 
 
 In Kamtschatka, the bulbs of a species of Lily, 
 the Lilium pomponium, a,re cultivated for food, as 
 we grow potatoes. They are also dried, ground to 
 powder and used, like flour, for making bread. 
 Those lily-bulbs form part of the winter store of 
 the mice which inhabit that country, and which not 
 only lay them up at the proper season in their 
 underground magazines, but have the forethought 
 to bring them out to dry in the air on sunny 
 days. The women take advantage of this sagacity 
 to replenish their own stock, but they always take 
 care to leave enough for the mice to carry back 
 again, that so their little friends may not die of 
 hunger. 
 
 At first sight we might suppose that the pink 
 Guernsey Lily, the Narcissus, Daffodil, and Snow- 
 drop, which belong to the Amaryllis family, and the
 
 22 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 Gladi'ola and Crocus, which are of the Iris family, 
 were all liliaceous plants, for in some respects they 
 do appear to resemble them pretty closely ; but both 
 the Amaryllis and Iris families are distinguished by 
 natural characters of their own. Their peculiarities 
 are detailed in Bentham's botanical works. 
 
 During the Spring season, we can seldom take 
 a country walk without coming upon a potato field 
 in blossom. Potatoes were first brought from 
 America by Sir Walter Raleigh about the year 
 1597. The calyx is mono-sepalous, and the blossom 
 mono-petalous, each with four or five clefts in the 
 border. The leaves are generally of a dusky-green 
 colour. In shape the blossom is like an open 
 shallow vase. The dark-green balls that succeed 
 the white or purple blossoms are the seed-vessels 
 or fruit. When the seeds are sown, they produce 
 a great many varieties, so that, in order to ensure 
 the production of potatoes of the same quality as 
 those of the parent plant, they must be propagated 
 by planting what are called the Eyes, which are 
 undeveloped buds growing on the potato itself, just 
 as buds grow on the stems of plants where the 
 leaves are formed. It is a common mistake to 
 suppose that the potatoes we eat are roots. They
 
 SPRING. 23 
 
 are really Tubers or excrescences, more or less 
 succulent, that grow on a kind of underground- 
 stem, from which the fibrous roots of the plant 
 descend into the ground. The tuber of an Orchis 
 is generally called a Knob. 
 
 The Potato, the Capsicum, and the Tomato, 
 which we find so useful as food ; and the Hen- 
 bane, the Deadly Nightshade, the Belladonna, and 
 the Tobacco, all known to be poisonous when 
 taken internally, belong to the Solanum family. 
 From its tubers the potato plant is called Solanum 
 tuberdsum. 
 
 Tobacco, as well as the custom of smoking it 
 and taking it powdered as snuff, was brought into 
 England by Sir Walter Raleigh after his discovery 
 of Virginia, to which he gave its name in honour 
 of Queen Elizabeth. King James the First took 
 such a dislike to the smell of this plant, that he 
 wrote a pamphlet against the habit of smoking, and 
 called it " A Counterblast to Tobacco." The name 
 tobacco comes from the island of Tobago, where the 
 plant was first discovered. The Americans used to 
 call it Petun, pronounced pee-toon. Tobacco has its 
 generic name, Nicotiana, from Nicot, who happened 
 to be French ambassador to Portugal at the time of
 
 24 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 the introduction of the plant into Europe, and who 
 is said to have offered the first pinch of snuff taken 
 in France to Catherine of Medicis. 
 
 In China, tobacco next to tea is supposed to be 
 the best preservative of health, and is constantly 
 used by people of all classes.
 
 SUMMER 
 
 PLATE II 
 
 STANDARD 
 
 STANDARD
 
 SUMMER. 
 
 LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 
 
 PEA-FLOWER. 
 
 THE garden Sweet Pea is one of the sweetest of 
 all summer flowers. It belongs to what is called 
 the Pea-flower tribe, and is a native of Sicily. The 
 structure of the flowers in that tribe is so peculiar, 
 that I shall now endeavour to explain it to you. 
 (Plate II. Fig. 1 .) The blossom consists of five petals, 
 not all of the same shape, for which reason it is said 
 to be Irregular. When the blossom is composed of 
 petals all alike in shape, as is the case in the four 
 petals of the Wall-flower, it is said to be Eegular. 
 The large top petal of the Sweet Pea is called the
 
 26 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 Standard, because it stands nearly upright, and its 
 upper edge is somewhat furled back. (Fig. 1.) The 
 standard is much broader than any of the other 
 petals. It is placed outside the other petals and 
 covers them up in the flower-bud. (Fig. 1.) The 
 two petals next below the standard are called the 
 Wings, and sometimes they do look as if they were 
 ready to fly aw T ay. They are alike in shape, but 
 reversed in position. (Fig. 1.) The two remaining 
 petals, next below the wings, are more or less united 
 at their lower edges, so as to form a sort of little 
 boat with a curved beak. This is called the Keel. 
 (Fig. 1.) Within the keel we find ten stamens 
 and one pistil. (Fig. 2.) Nine of the filaments are 
 united nearly all the way up, and form a sheath 
 or trough that incloses and protects the future seed- 
 vessel. The tenth filament stands just above the 
 sheath, where its two edges meet. If the sheath 
 were entirely closed like a tube, there would be 
 no room for the young seed-vessel within it to 
 grow ; but this is provided against by the two 
 edges just meeting at first, and afterwards gradually 
 opening as the size of the seed-vessel increases. 
 This we can see with the help of a magmfyihg- 
 glass and a sharp needle.
 
 SUMMEE. 27 
 
 The calyx of the Sweet Pea is composed of one 
 piece with five sharp-pointed divisions in the border, 
 the middle segment being always beneath the keel. 
 (Fig. 2.) The two upper segments rest upon the 
 lower part of the standard, and the other two upon 
 the upper edges of the wings. 
 
 We already know that the four petals which 
 compose the blossom of the Wall-flower are so placed 
 as to form a cross, and that all plants, of which the 
 blossom has the natural character of being cross- 
 shaped, belong to the natural family of Cruciform 
 or Cruciferous plants. In like manner, the blossom 
 of the Sweet Pea has a distinct natural character of 
 its own, which consists of the peculiar form and 
 position of its five petals. Plants of the Pea-flower 
 Tribe are said to be Papilionaceous, from the fanciful 
 resemblance of the blossom to a butterfly, papilio 
 being the Latin for butterfly. 
 
 Papilionaceous plants belong to the natural 
 family of Leguminous, or Legiimen-bearing plants, 
 the seed-vessel being a sort of pouch, called a Legu- 
 men, which, in appearance, is not unlike a pod. In 
 the Wall-flower, the seed-vessel is a pod, of which 
 the two valves or shells are separated by a partition 
 with the flat seeds growing upon its two surfaces ;
 
 28 
 
 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 but in the legumen there is no partition, and the 
 roundish seeds grow alternately on the upper seam 
 of each shell, as these three little drawings will 
 show you. 
 
 Legumen. 
 
 Legumen opened. 
 
 The Tendrils or claspers at the end of the leaf- 
 stalks of the Sweet Pea are merely continuations of 
 those stalks, which would have been mid-ribs of other 
 leaflets, had there been any. In some plants the 
 tendrils turn from left to right, as in the Honey- 
 suckle for instance ; others, on the contrary, go from 
 right to leftj of which the great Bindweed is an
 
 SUMMER. 29 
 
 example ; and in the Black Bryony the tendril 
 twists itself a certain number of times one way, 
 and then takes a contrary direction, as if for the 
 purpose of taking a more secure hold. In the 
 Ivy, a number of small fibres grow along the stem 
 and on the branches, on the side next the supporter, 
 to which they fix themselves, like real roots, if it 
 be a tree, or else they cling to naked walls, being 
 covered with hairs which exude a gluey substance 
 that fastens them to smooth surfaces. Those fibres 
 are really tendrils. 
 
 The seeds of several of the plants of the Pea 
 tribe are very nutritious, or at least wholesome, 
 as we find in our well known vegetables Beans, 
 Peas, Lentils, and French Beans or Haricots ; and 
 not only the seeds, but the stems and leaves also 
 of Trefoils or Clover, Saintfoin, Lucern, and Vetches, 
 afford excellent fodder for cattle, either in their 
 green state or dried as hay. At first sight, the 
 purple, white, or cream-coloured heads of Clover 
 might be mistaken for so many distinct flowers ; 
 but each head consists of a great number of very 
 small flowers, every one of which is composed of its 
 own little calyx, standard, wings, and keel, in most 
 respects like a miniature flower of our Sweet Pea.
 
 30 ' THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 The Bean that is cultivated in kitchen-gardens 
 is an Egyptian species of Vetch. Its large seeds, 
 and the seeds of the French Bean also, when quite 
 ripe and split open, sometimes show the structure 
 of the seeds of leguminous plants. In the greater 
 number of flowering plants the seed is composed 
 of three principal parts, the Skin, the leaf-like lobes 
 called Cotyl'edons, and the future plant or Embryo. 
 
 1. The skin, or husk, is merely a sort of case that 
 contains the other parts within it, and defends them 
 from damp and injury. 
 
 2. The cotyledons have their name from the 
 Greek word KOTV\^, a porringer, or saucer-sliaped 
 vessel, which they somewhat resemble in form. 
 They are rather succulent in texture, and contain 
 certain juices, with which they help to nourish the 
 newly formed bud. Springing, as they do, from the 
 sides of the minute stem, they surround and nourish 
 the tender little plant, take care of it till it become 
 strong enough to grow of itself, and finally accom- 
 pany it to the surface, or else, having finished their 
 appointed work, they quietly fade away. 
 
 3. The embryo is the future plant in miniature, 
 and is extremely small at first. Linnaeus called it 
 the Cor'culum, or little heart. It is that portion of
 
 SUMMER. 31 
 
 the seed which all the other parts of it are intended 
 to protect and nourish. It consists of the Eadicle, 
 from which the root strikes, downwards, and the 
 Plumula, from which the stem shoots upwards. 
 The plumula has its name from the little feather- 
 like hairs that generally appear on the bud. 
 
 When the seed has but one lobe, plants are said 
 to be Mono-cotyledonous, and when two, Di-cotyle- 
 donous. In all flowering plants, the minute internal 
 organization of the seed determines the nature and 
 
 o 
 
 structure of the plant that succeeds it ; but as 
 that organization invariably corresponds with certain 
 visible peculiarities in the stem, the leaves, and 
 other parts of the plant, it is not necessary to 
 anatomize the seed in order to know the number 
 of lobes attached to the embryo. In mono-cotyle- 
 donous plants the stem is cylindrical, without 
 branches ; the pith, wood, and bark are disposed, 
 as it were at random, in an irregular, unsym- 
 metrical manner, and the leaves have parallel veins. 
 Parallel veins or nerves do not often send out side 
 veins, and when they do so, those lesser veins never 
 touch or cross each other. We can see these peculi- 
 arities in Palms, Grasses, Orchises, and some other 
 families. In di-cotyledonous plants, on the con-
 
 32 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 trary, the stem tapers as it grows ; it is furnished 
 on every side with branches ; the pith, wood, and 
 bark are disposed in a perfectly regular and sym- 
 metrical manner, and the leaves have netted veins. 
 The greater number of known trees, shrubs, herba- 
 ceous plants, and herbs, are di-cotyledonous. 
 
 In fine weather, the flowers of some of the 
 Pea tribe spread out their wings as if to admit 
 the sun's rays, and fold them up again at sunset. 
 Linnseus once sowed in his green -house at Upsal, 
 in Sweden, some seeds of a papilionaceous plant 
 which a friend of his had sent him from a dis- 
 tance. Very soon they produced two beautiful 
 flowers. The gardener was absent when Linnseus 
 first perceived them, so he took a lantern in the 
 evening to show them to him when he came home, 
 but, to his great surprise, they were nowhere to be 
 seen. The next morning, there they were again, 
 looking as fresh and beautiful as ever. The gardener 
 said, " Those cannot be the same flowers ; they must 
 have blown since yesterday." But Linnseus was not 
 so easily satisfied. As soon as it was dark he again 
 visited the plants, and, lifting up the leaves one by 
 one, he found the two flowers folded up and so 
 carefully concealed that it was impossible at first
 
 SUMMEK. 33 
 
 sight to discover where they were. This led him to 
 watch other plants of the same tribe, and he found 
 that they all possessed the faculty of closing their 
 flowers, more or less, at night. For want of a better 
 term he called this " The Sleep of Plants." 
 
 That the sleep of plants depends upon the 
 absence of light has been proved by removing a 
 papilionaceous plant into a dark place during the 
 day, when it shut up its petals as if it had been 
 night; and again, by directing towards it during 
 the night a stream of powerful artificial light, in 
 which case the blossom unfolded as if to the sun. 
 
 Plants, that sleep at night in their own country 
 at the other side of the globe, sometimes reverse 
 the habit with us and sleep through the day, but 
 expand their petals again at sunset. Tropical plants 
 too, in our hothouses, often go to sleep and wake 
 up at regular intervals of twelve hours, as if we 
 had the equal day and night to which they or their 
 parent plants had been born. Our own Trefoils or 
 Clover always shut up their little flowers at the 
 approach of rain, and, when the shower is over, 
 wake up again apparently quite refreshed. But if 
 I say much more about sleeping plants, we shall 
 perhaps go to sleep ourselves. 
 
 D
 
 34 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 There is a papilionaceous plant in the East Indies, 
 a species of Saintfoin, called the Moving plant, 
 because its leaves move without any apparent cause. 
 The leaf is composed of three lesser leaves or leaf- 
 lets, those at the sides being smaller than that 
 in the middle. The two side leaflets execute a 
 rapid double movement up and down upon them- 
 selves, by night as well as by day, while the middle 
 leaflet sleeps and wakes according to the action of 
 the light. 
 
 In the Sensitive plant, which belongs to the 
 Mimosa tribe of Leguminous plants, the leaves lower 
 themselves, and, as it were, droop or shrink away at 
 the slightest touch. Even a breath of wind or a 
 passing cloud will produce a like result, but as soon 
 as the disturbing cause ceases to exist, every part of 
 the plant returns to its natural position. Another 
 species of the Mimosa tribe, a native of Brazil, is 
 the large tree that produces the beautiful dark close- 
 grained wood called Jacaranda or Eosewood, in 
 French, Palisandre. The name rosewood is from 
 the delicate scent of roses emitted by the wood 
 when the tree is first cut down. 
 
 The Acacia also, belongs to the Mimosa tribe. 
 Some of its species afford excellent timber, and in
 
 SUMMER. 35 
 
 several the bark contains certain astringent and 
 tonic properties, which cause it to be much used by 
 tanners and dyers. The legumens of one species are 
 of such a soapy nature that the Indians make a 
 sort of decoction of them, which they use for wash- 
 ing, as a substitute for the soapy seeds of Mimosa 
 saponaria. 
 
 Several plants send up suckers from their roots 
 as we see in our Rose trees, young Lilacs, and other 
 trees. In the Acacia tree the suckers are innume- 
 rable and grow with astonishing rapidity. A farmer 
 who lived at Long Island, in North America, planted 
 fourteen acres with Acacia suckers very soon after 
 his marriage, as a provision for his family. Twenty- 
 two years later, he cut down three hundred pounds 
 worth of timber from his Acacia wood, to enable his 
 eldest son to buy a farm and marry. A few years 
 after that, he gave one of his daughters a like por- 
 tion ; then another of his sons wanted money to 
 enable him to settle, and they again had recourse to 
 the Acacias, till all the eight children were pro- 
 vided for, a quick succession of young suckers filling 
 up the gaps left by the trees that had been cut 
 down to supply the wants of the family. 
 
 Very few papilionaceous plants are poisonous. 
 D 2
 
 36 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 The seeds of one of them, the West Indian Fish 
 Bean or Jamaica Dogwood, when thrown into 
 water where there are fish, have such an effect upon 
 them, that they come up and float upon the surface 
 and allow themselves to be taken out with the hand. 
 The seeds of the Laburnum and of Lupine are also 
 extremely noxious. The butterfly-shaped yellow 
 blossoms of Laburnum are to be seen in most 
 gardens when Lilac is in blow in the spring of the 
 year, and blue, white, and yellow Lupines flower 
 in July. It is said that in Egypt the people who 
 live near the banks of the Nile destroy the hippo- 
 potamus or river-horse, which does great mischief 
 to their fields and gardens at night, by placing near 
 his haunts seeds of Lupine, which he greedily de- 
 vours. 
 
 Some very good dyes are obtained from plants of 
 the Pea tribe that grow wild in England. One 
 species is called Dyer's Greenweed, which yields 
 the best yellow dye we have for colouring wool ; 
 another is called Woad, and it affords a blue tint, 
 by means of which the yellow can afterwards be 
 made green. But the best blue dye yet known is 
 the Indigo, which is obtained from an East Indian 
 papilionaceous plant, Indigdfera tinctoria. The dye
 
 SUMMER. 37 
 
 is prepared by steeping the small branches and 
 leaves in water, and drying the sediment they 
 deposit, which is, in fact, the indigo. In its pre- 
 pared state indigo is poisonous, but the plant itself 
 is harmless. The botanical name of the Dyer's 
 Greenweed is Genis'ta tinctoria, and that of the 
 Woad, Isatis tinctoria. About a century before the 
 Norman conquest, an Earl of Anjou, whose name 
 was Fulke, went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. 
 As a sign of humility, he wore a sprig of Genista 
 in his cap, and afterwards took the title of Planta- 
 genet (Planta Genista or Genesta) from it, which 
 his descendants retained. 
 
 There is one very common papilionaceous plant, 
 the Furze, which grows wild in many parts of Europe, 
 but it does not bear cold well. Linnaeus tried to 
 preserve it under cover, through the winter, in 
 Sweden, and took as much care of it as we do of 
 hothouse plants, but without success. When he 
 visited England in the year 1736, he was so much 
 delighted with the golden bloom of the Furze on 
 Bagshot heath, and on other heaths near London, 
 that it is said he fell on his knees to admire it. In 
 the furze, all the stamens are united into a sheath, 
 over the very short and few-seeded pod.
 
 38 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 It would hardly be like Summer if I did not 
 say a few words about Roses, which are to be seen 
 in every garden at this season. The most important 
 of the natural characters of the Rose family, is the 
 growth of the stamens within the throat of the 
 calyx, for it indicates that the fruit, which succeeds 
 the flower, is always wholesome, even though poison 
 may lurk in other parts of the plant. The Rose 
 family is generally divided into the Almond, the 
 Rose, and the Apple tribes. 
 
 The Almond tribe includes the Plum, the Cherry, 
 and the Apricot, three species of the genus Prunus ; 
 and the Almond, the Peach, and the Nectarine, three 
 species of the genus Amyg'dalus. In the Almond 
 tribe the calyx falls off when the plant has done 
 flowering. 
 
 The Rose tribe includes, amongst other genera, 
 the Blackberry, of which the Raspberry is a 
 species, the Strawberry, and the Rose. In the 
 Rose tribe the calyx remains after the plant has 
 done flowering. 
 
 The Apple tribe includes the Pyrus or Pear and 
 Apple genus ; the Hawthorn, the Medlar, and the 
 Mountain Ash. In the Apple tribe the calyx-tube 
 becomes the seed-vessel or .fruit. We can see a
 
 SUMMER. 39 
 
 little crown of the withered sepals on the top of 
 unripe apples and pears. 
 
 In plants of the Eose family the five petals are 
 hollowed into the shape of saucers or little bowls, 
 and are either white, or white tinted with a deli- 
 cate pink or pale lilac colour. In the Rose genus 
 the calyx is either globular, or oval, or shaped some- 
 thing like a boy's top, the border being divided 
 into five deeply cut sepals. The Dog Rose is a very 
 good example, and is to be found in flower in most 
 hedges all through the Summer. 
 
 What we call the thorns of Rose trees are really 
 prickles, and can be peeled off with the bark, while 
 thorns grow from the wood itself and remain after 
 the bark has been removed. Thorns are, in reality, 
 undeveloped buds, which a rich soil and cultivation 
 would convert into branches and leaves. The wood 
 having a tendency to grow upwards, thorns also 
 point either upwards or straight out from the stem ; 
 but prickles, proceeding as they do from the bark 
 only, generally point downwards. They are really 
 enlarged hairs. 
 
 Roses are found chiefly in temperate or cold 
 climates north of the equator. Asia, which may 
 be called the Land of Roses, produces a greater
 
 40 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 number of species than any other part of the globe. 
 In Egypt, Roses used to be the emblems of silence. 
 The Egyptian goddess Isis, and her son Harpocrates, 
 the god of silence, were always represented with 
 chaplets of Eoses on their heads. Hence, probably, 
 the expression, "Under the Rose," to imply some- 
 thing told to another in confidence. 
 
 During the civil wars in England, in the reign of 
 Henry the Sixth, a white rose distinguished the 
 partisans of the house of York, and a red rose those 
 of the house of Lancaster, for which reason those 
 wars are often called the Wars of the Roses. 
 
 The delightful Eastern perfume called Otto or 
 Attar of Roses, with which Indian shawls are often 
 scented, is an essential oil obtained from the petals 
 of the Damask or Damascus Rose. In Europe the 
 rose water used in medicine is distilled from the 
 petals of the sweetest-smelling roses that can be 
 obtained.
 
 AUTUMN- 
 
 III 
 
 , ; 
 
 CHINA ASTER
 
 AUTUMN. 
 
 COMPOSITE PLANTS. 
 
 Front view. 
 
 Back view. 
 
 DAISY. 
 
 AT first sight, a China Aster appears to be composed 
 of several flat narrow petals, ranged in a circle of 
 diverging rays round a button-like centre consist- 
 ing of a great number of yellow dots (Plate III. 
 Fig. 1.) But if we pull out all those petals and 
 yellow dots, we shall find that what we thought 
 were flat narrow petals only, are really little flowers 
 or florets, the blossom of each being composed of one 
 long petal, in shape somewhat like a spear with a 
 blunt point. This petal forms a very short tube at
 
 42 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 the base, through which the pistil rises from the top 
 of a little egg-shaped seed that is crowned with a 
 ring of silky white hairs, called Pappus. (Fig. 2.) 
 There are no stamens in the flowers of the cir- 
 cumference in this plant. What we mistook for 
 yellow dots are, in reality, beautiful little flowers 
 or florets, each blossom being composed of one 
 petal with five divisions in the border, and not 
 unlike a funnel in shape. There are five stamens, 
 and the anthers are united side by side in such 
 a manner as to form a cylinder, through which the 
 pistil rises from the little egg-shaped seed below^, 
 crowned, like those of the circumference florets, 
 with fine soft white hairs. (Fig. 3.) 
 
 Flowers that consist of a number of florets col- 
 lected together into a head, and surrounded by a sort 
 of general calyx, the whole having the appearance 
 of a single flower, like our China Aster, are said to 
 be Composite. The plants that bear such flowers 
 form the natural family of Composite plants. The 
 calyx peculiar to this family is called an Involu- 
 crum, a Latin word, from involve to wrap up, and 
 which means a covering or case. 
 
 Composite flowers are all so far alike, that the 
 family has a very distinct natural character, as
 
 AUTUMN. 43 
 
 / 
 
 you may see by comparing the China Aster with 
 Marigolds, Sunflowers, and Daisies. You must 
 always take care to gather a Daisy before sun- 
 set and on a fine day, for it opens every morn- 
 ing to the rising sun, and shuts itself up at the 
 approach of rain, and every evening when the sun 
 declines, as if to take its rest. Its name Daisy, 
 Day's Eye, or the eye of day, comes from this habit 
 of early rising. 
 
 The structure of the involucrum and the dis- 
 position of the hairs and chaff-like little scales that 
 accompany the seeds, are of great importance in 
 enabling us to distinguish composite plants from 
 each other amongst themselves, but the union of the 
 anthers into the form of a cylinder is the great 
 distinction of the Composite family, because that 
 does not exist in any other plants. There are some 
 flowers of which the general appearance might 
 naturally lead us to imagine that they were mem- 
 bers of this family; the Scabious and Teasal for 
 instance, for they too are composed of a number of 
 small florets collected into a head, which has the 
 appearance of a single flower, but in neither of 
 them does the union of the anthers in the form of 
 a cylinder exist.
 
 44 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 In some composite plants the involucrum is com- 
 posed of a single row of leaves or scales ; in others 
 there are two rows, and in others again the scales 
 overlap one another alternately, and in a perfectly 
 symmetrical manner, as we see them in the common 
 Artichoke, which is a composite plant. In many 
 instances the involucrum opens as if to make room 
 at the right time for the florets to expand, and 
 then, when the petals have fallen off, it again closes, 
 apparently in order to protect the young seeds ; but 
 as the seeds ripen and increase in size, it re-opens 
 to give them space ; and in some plants it turns 
 entirely back to let them escape. The Coltsfoot and 
 Dandelion are in this condition when we see their 
 heads covered with light Down. 
 
 The seeds in several of the species are very re- 
 markable ; they are invariably placed below the 
 blossom, and there is never more than one to each 
 floret. In several plants they are topped with a 
 most beautiful down, consisting of a number of 
 spokes or rays; the spokes themselves, too, are some- 
 times branched or feathered, and in some plants in 
 the Dandelion, for example an entire crown or 
 wheel, formed of the branches of the down, is fixed 
 upon a sort of stem or pillar, which is itself attached
 
 AUTUMN. 45 
 
 to the seed; something in this manner, only in- 
 finitely more delicate and light-looking than any 
 drawing ever can be. 
 
 Seed. Simple Feathered Feathered Down on 
 
 Down. Down. a Pillar. 
 
 The down is a beautiful object when seen through 
 the microscope, and its use is most important, for it 
 enables the wind to carry the seeds to very con- 
 siderable distances from the parent plant, and to 
 sow them, as it were, in situations which they might 
 otherwise, probably, have never reached. 
 
 It is highly interesting to observe how carefully 
 the dispersion of the seeds of plants is insured. 
 Those seeds, for instance, which grow best in some 
 peculiar soil, such as the seeds of the Arum, are 
 small in size, and so heavy that they fall straight 
 down into the ground as soon as the ripe seed- 
 vessel opens to let them out, and there they grow
 
 46 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 without further care, almost on the same spot 
 where the parent plant flourished before them. 
 Some larger seeds are yet so very light, that they 
 could be borne aloft by the wind, were they not 
 furnished with little grappling-hooks that prevent 
 them from straying too far before they settle upon 
 the ground. Others, again, have wings, that so, 
 when ripe, they may be dispersed in the air before 
 they are sown. Were they all to sink into the 
 earth at once, they might come up so close to- 
 gether as to smother many of the future plants. 
 The seeds of the Ash and Elm are of this descrip- 
 tion. Some seeds are scattered by being spurted 
 or jerked out by the parent plant itself. Those 
 of the Wood Sorrel are thrown off in this manner, 
 the seed-vessel being so constructed that, when it 
 begins to dry, it bursts open, and, in a moment, is 
 violently turned inside out, upon which the seeds 
 dart away in every direction and to a considerable 
 distance. When Oats are ripe, the grains are thrown 
 from the calyx with such a loud sound that, in 
 passing near an oat-field, if the day be dry and 
 fine, we may hear the crackling noise. 
 
 In Pine or Fir trees the seed-vessel is a Cone with 
 scales lying over each other like tiles on a roof, and
 
 AUTUMN. 47 
 
 which have the appearance of being one undivided 
 body. In this state the cone hangs upon the tree 
 during the winter season, and protects the seeds 
 which it contains ; but as soon as warm weather 
 comes again, the scales of the cone begin to shrink 
 and separate, leaving openings for the ripe seeds to 
 escape. If a number of cones happen to burst at 
 the same moment, which is often the case, the noise 
 can be heard at some distance. 
 
 Birds help to disperse seeds when the seed-vessel 
 forms part of their food, which is the case with 
 Cherries, Sloes, Haws, and other fruits of a like 
 nature. They carry away a Cherry, for instance, 
 till they find some convenient place w^here they can 
 eat the pulpy seed-vessel at their leisure and, that 
 done, they drop the stone with the seed or kernel in 
 it, down upon the ground. 
 
 It sometimes happens that the seed itself is 
 destroyed. In the Strawberry we ourselves eat the 
 seeds along with the pulp, and slugs do the same 
 even before the fruit ripens ; but losses of this kind 
 are provided against by the faculty the plant pos- 
 sesses of throwing out fresh shoots or suckers, much 
 in the same manner as the stoloniferous grasses of 
 which I shall presently speak.
 
 48 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 Amongst our autumn garden flowers of the Com- 
 posite family, the most beautiful are the Dahlias 
 from Peru, the French and African Marigolds, and 
 the Cinerarias of every possible hue, from the 
 Cape of Good Hope and the Canary Islands. You 
 will perhaps be surprised to hear that the showy 
 Cinerarias of the greenhouse are only varieties of 
 one species of the genus Senecio, of which the 
 common Groundsel, the delight of Canary birds, is 
 another species. The handsome Globe Thistle, the 
 Scotch or Cotton Thistle and, flowering almost "as 
 late as christmas, the brilliant white, pink, and 
 pale yellow Chrysanthemums that look so gay when 
 few other flowers are in blow, are also composite 
 plants. Our garden species of Chrysanthemum, the 
 Chrysanthemum Indicum, came originally from 
 China. In Chinese and Japanese drawings, and 
 upon Indian lacker- work and porcelain, the Chrysan- 
 themum is frequently represented. 
 
 In cottage gardens we seldom fail to meet with 
 golden-yellow Marigolds, Sunflowers, Bluebottles or 
 Cornflowers of every shade from white and light 
 blue to deep purple ; white Ox-eye Daisies, deep 
 yellow Corn-marigolds, and Chamomile ; and, if a 
 hive of bees be there, Michaelmas Daisies are rarely
 
 AUTUMN. 49 
 
 absent. The Michaelmas Daisy belongs to a North- 
 American species of the genus Aster, to which the 
 Eastern plant, our China Aster, either belongs, or is 
 very nearly allied. 
 
 In the kitchen garden we have the common 
 Artichoke, the Jerusalem Artichoke, which is a 
 species of Sunflower, Helianthus tuberosus ; Worm- 
 wood or Absinth, Tansy, though now somewhat 
 old-fashioned, Southernwood, and Taragon, the last 
 four being species of the genus Artemisia. Another 
 species of Artemisia, Artemisia Chinensis, yields the 
 Moxa of China, a substance often used in surgery 
 for cauterising or artificial burning. We have 
 Lettuce too, and Salsify, and Chicory. As for weeds, 
 there is no lack of them, for have we not Groundsel 
 and Dandelion? The name Dandelion is the cor- 
 ruption of dent-de-lion, which is meant to express 
 the supposed resemblance of the jagged leaves of 
 the plant to the teeth of a lion. 
 
 The Composite family is the best defined and the 
 most extensively diffused of all the natural orders. 
 Yellow and lilac are the prevailing colours of the 
 flowers and, though most of the plants are bitter, 
 none of them are poisonous. It is to be remarked, 
 that the colours in Autumn flowers are much more
 
 50 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 warm and rich in tone than those in our Spring 
 flowers. At St. Helena, the composite plants are 
 trees, and in Chili they are shrubs. In Europe they 
 are seldom more than herbs, unless it be in Italy and 
 the south of France and Spain. 
 
 But the plants in which we must always take 
 the greatest interest are those which give us grass 
 and corn. They form the great natural family, 
 called Graminse, from gramina, the Latin word 
 for grass. The flowers of the grasses are very 
 modest and unpretending in their appearance, but 
 they are not less beautifully constructed than those 
 of more striking plants. 
 
 The care taken by Nature to ensure the produc- 
 tion of grass is truly wonderful. Though the leaves 
 be trodden down and consumed, the roots still con- 
 tinue to increase and, as the stalks that support the 
 flowers are seldom eaten by cattle, the seeds are 
 generally allowed to ripen. Some of the grasses that 
 grow on very high mountains, where the heat is not 
 sufficiently powerful to ripen the seed, are propa- 
 gated by shoots or suckers, which rise from the root, 
 and then run along the ground and take root them- 
 selves. Plants of this kind are said to be Stoloni- 
 ferous, from stolon, the Latin for a sucker of a plant.
 
 AUTUMN. 51 
 
 Other grasses are propagated in a manner yet more 
 surprising. The seeds begin to grow while they are 
 within the Husk, as the calyx of grass is called, and 
 young plants are there formed with little leaves and 
 roots of their own ; these fall to the ground, take 
 root, and continue to grow like the parent plant 
 from which they sprang. Grasses such as they are 
 said to be Yivip'arous. In warm countries green turf 
 is unknown, for grasses do not grow there com- 
 pactly together as in our meadows, but are dis- 
 persed either singly or in groups like other plants. 
 Tropical grasses often, attain the height of trees ; 
 their leaves are broad, and the flowers soft, downy, 
 and elegant in form. In Europe the best fodder 
 grasses are not higher than three or four feet above 
 the ground. If they grow beyond that height, they 
 are apt to become wiry and hard. In Brazil, though 
 the grasses are gigantic in stature, they are tender, 
 delicate, and very juicy. 
 
 The Romans used to bestow a crown made of 
 woven grass as a reward to their generals who, 
 by their skill and courage, had saved an army 
 from destruction ; and, though in itself of so little 
 value, that grassy crown was always eagerly con- 
 tested even by grave old warriors. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye, and every kind of corn, 
 are the seeds of grasses, and the Sugar-cane, Rice, 
 Maize, and every sort of Reed, including the South 
 American Pampas Grass, belong to the grass family. 
 The fruit of grass is called the Grain. Every kind 
 of grass seed in its healthy state, is wholesome and 
 nutritious. 
 
 Some of the Reeds of Brazil are invaluable to the 
 hunters in that country. In remote places, if they 
 happen to be fatigued and thirsty, they have only to 
 cut off a reed below the joint to find the stem 
 beneath it filled with a cool pleasant liquid which 
 is perfectly harmless. And as the reeds form a 
 thorny thicket which wild animals cannot easily 
 penetrate, the hunters can enjoy the refreshment 
 afforded by those living fountains without fear of 
 being molested. 
 
 The plants that form what is called the Sedge 
 tribe very nearly resemble grasses, but they are 
 scarcely ever eaten by cattle. The most remark- 
 able of the sedges is the Papyrus, which grows in 
 Sicily and on the banks of the Nile. The ancient 
 Egyptians often represented the Papyrus on their 
 monuments, which shows how highly they valued 
 it. They made vases of the roots, and boats of the
 
 AUTUMN. 53 
 
 stalks woven together like basket-work and then 
 coated over with some sort of resin. When the 
 bark is peeled off the stalks of the plant, the pith 
 that remains can easily be separated into very thin 
 layers, and of those layers they made not only paper 
 but cloth for dresses. Their way of making paper 
 was to place a number of layers of pith close beside 
 each other, with as many more layers ranged across 
 them, and then to wet the whole with water, which 
 made the pieces stick together. When this was 
 pressed and dried, it was equal to our paper in 
 solidity and lightness. 
 
 The word paper comes from the name of the 
 plant Papyrus, and from the ancient custom of 
 writing upon leaves we say the leaves of a book ; 
 but the word book is from the Saxon word Boc, or 
 Beech, thin tablets of beech- wood having been used 
 by our ancestors for writing upon, as ivory or porce- 
 lain tablets are sometimes used to this day. Liber, 
 the Latin for book, signifies the bark of a tree upon 
 which people also formerly wrote, and volumen, a 
 roll, was that manuscript rolled up, for bark could 
 not be folded like paper without cracking or split- 
 ting. From liber and volumen come our English 
 words library and volume. Paper was first made
 
 54 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 in England about the year 1300, and it appears to 
 have been first made of linen rags half a century 
 later. The first paper-mill in England was erected 
 in the year 1588. 
 
 If you wish to become acquainted with other 
 Spring, Summer, and Autumn plants, besides those 
 of which I have spoken, I can safely recommend 
 to your notice Bentham's "Handbook of the 
 British Flora" as an admirable work, and very 
 concisely written. 
 
 When we look upon Autumn flowers, Dickens' 
 delightful picture of that season naturally recurs to 
 our thoughts, and I think you may like to be 
 reminded of it, though it has nothing to do with 
 plants : 
 
 " There is no month in the whole year, in which 
 nature wears a more beautiful appearance, than in 
 the month of August. Spring has many beauties, 
 and May is a fresh and blooming month, but the 
 charms of that time of year are enhanced by their 
 contrast with the winter season. August has no 
 such advantage. It comes when we remember 
 nothing but clear skies, green fields, and sweet- 
 smelling flowers when the recollection of snow, 
 and ice, and bleak winds, has faded from our minds
 
 AUTUMN. 55 
 
 as completely as they have disappeared from the 
 earth, and yet what a pleasant time it is ! 
 Orchards and corn-fields ring with the hum of 
 labour ; trees bend beneath the thick clusters of 
 rich fruit which bow their branches to the ground ; 
 and the corn, piled in graceful sheaves, or waving 
 in every light breath that sweeps above it, as if it 
 wooed the sickle, tinges the landscape with a golden 
 hue. A mellow softness appears to hang over the 
 whole earth ; the influence of the season seems to 
 extend itself to the very waggon, whose slow 
 motion across the well-reaped field, is perceptible 
 only to the eye, but strikes with no harsh sound on 
 the ear."
 
 WINTER. 
 
 FLOWERLESS PLANTS. 
 
 FERN. 
 
 MUSHROOM. 
 
 You have seen that in some plants there are no 
 petals, and in others no calyx, but I have not yet 
 spoken to you of any plants without stamens and 
 pistils, which are, in themselves, sufficient to con- 
 stitute a perfect flower, for they alone produce the 
 seeds of future plants. In Ferns, Mosses, Lichens 
 pronounced li-kens, the i long Mushrooms or Fun- 
 guses, Sea- weeds, and other plants of a similar nature, 
 there is neither stamen nor pistil, nor what can be 
 called any true seeds, and consequently those plants
 
 "WINTER 
 
 PLATE IV 
 
 FLOWERLESS PLANTS
 
 WTNTTEK. 57 
 
 are said to be Flowerless. Their fructification is 
 carried on by means of exceedingly fine dust-like 
 minute grains or granules, called Spores, which are 
 sent forth from the parent plant in a very wonder- 
 ful manner, and which may possibly be miniature 
 buds of myriads of future plants, totally invisible 
 to our eyes and also to the best microscopes yet 
 invented. But the precise manner in which the 
 fructification does take place is not clearly under- 
 stood at present. 
 
 The visible structure of some flowerless plants 
 might lead us to infer that they were mono-coty- 
 ledonous, but that is not the case. In the Fern 
 tribe, the green leaf-like parts that we should 
 naturally feel inclined to call leaves, bear the 
 fruit, as it is called, grouped in round or oblong 
 clusters upon their under surface, or else grow- 
 ing in little cups upon their edges. Those fruit- 
 bearing branches are called Fronds, to distinguish 
 them from what we mean to express when we 
 talk of the leaves of other plants. At the lower 
 part of the stalk of the plant, several blackish root- 
 like fibres shoot out, mixed with membranous 
 scales of a red-brown colour. Those scales protect 
 the young shoots, which at first appear in the form
 
 58 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 of a pale-green tuft, surrounded by old shoots of the 
 preceding year. 
 
 Ferns are generally herbaceous with us, but 
 in tropical regions they become woody, and take 
 the form and size of trees. They compose about 
 a tenth part of the plants that grow in those 
 countries. They are so very beautiful and so 
 graceful in form, that they are much sought by 
 amateur gardeners ; and few things in vegetation 
 are more interesting to watch than the gradual 
 uncurling of the young fronds as they peep up from 
 the brown stems covered with pointed scales. The 
 groups of yellow or brown grain-like dots, which 
 we see on the under surface of some of the fronds, 
 are composed of spore-cases, which open at the 
 proper moment, to let the ripe spores escape. Perhaps 
 this drawing may give you some slight idea of 
 their general structure. (Plate IV. Fig. 1.) 
 
 The fronds of most of the species of Fern, if 
 cut when fully grown, and then properly dried, 
 make a thatch more durable than any sort of 
 straw. The root of one sort, called the Flowering 
 Fern, because the fructification forms a sort of 
 panicle or loose bunch at the top of the frond, 
 when boiled in water, is employed in the north of
 
 WINTER. 59 
 
 Europe like starch, to stiffen linen. The aromatic 
 syrup called Capillaire, is prepared from a British 
 species of Fern, the Adiantum Capillis Veneris. 
 A species found in North America, called the Sensi- 
 tive Fern, is said to wither immediately if it be 
 touched by the human hand, though it may be 
 touched by anything else without the slightest 
 injury. This experiment was repeated several time?, 
 and always with the same result, by Sprengel, a 
 well-known German botanist. You will find every 
 necessary detail respecting this tribe of plants in 
 Moore's excellent " Handbook of British Ferns." 
 
 The Mosses have roots and leaves apparently 
 like those of other plants, but their fruit is very 
 different. Small crisp, almost hair-like threads, re- 
 sembling the filaments of stamens, generally grow 
 out of the bosom of the green leaves, and support 
 little pointed oval heads, that we might at first 
 sight suppose were anthers. Those crisp threads 
 are fruit-stalks, and the heads capsules, which is 
 the name given to the case or box-like seed- 
 vessels. The shape of the capsule varies in dif- 
 ferent kinds of moss. It is usually almost entirely 
 covered with a sort of veil or cap, called a Calyptra 
 or veil, from KaXinn-w, the Greek word for to veil.
 
 60 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 .In form it is not unlike a little extinguisher, and 
 is composed of fine silky hairs. It is of a yellow 
 colour at its base, and of a rich brown at the 
 highest point. When we have carefully removed 
 the veil, we come to a four-sided urn-shaped head 
 with a sort of conical crown, standing on the top 
 of the stalk. On detaching this crown, which is 
 neither so high nor so sharp-pointed as the veil, 
 and is, as it were, hemmed in round its base, we 
 come to a sort of semi-transparent, slightly-convex 
 inner lid stretched over the top of the four-sided 
 urn, something in the manner of the parchment on 
 the head of a drum. This inner lid is called the 
 Oper'culum, which is the Latin for a lid or cover. It 
 is kept or held in its place by one or two rows of 
 fringe, of great delicacy and surprising regularity 
 as to the number of the teeth that compose it. It 
 is some different peculiarity in the structure of this 
 fringe round the mouth of the capsule which deter- 
 mines the character of the several genera of Mosses. 
 If we raise the operculum, we see that the hollow 
 urn below it encloses four cells or spore-cases, 
 (Fig. 2.) each cell filled with innumerable dust-like 
 granules, of a bright green colour. Those granules 
 are the spores. As soon as the spores are ripe, the
 
 WINTER. 61 
 
 capsules bend a little to one side towards the ground 
 upon the crisp thread-like fruit-stalks ; the brown 
 veil, the pointed cover, and the inner lid, all fall off, 
 and the dust-like spores are poured out and scattered 
 upon the ground, where they reproduce other plants 
 of the same kind as the parent plant. 
 
 The form of the leaves of Mosses is extremely 
 simple. They are all destitute of leaf-stalks, and 
 are never winged or divided. Mosses are generally 
 perennial and evergreen, and are capable of grow- 
 ing in much colder climates and situations than 
 most other vegetables. In the dreary country 
 round Spitzbergen, the rocks which rise out of 
 masses of ice almost as hard as they, are thickly 
 clothed With moss. Crantz, a German botanist who 
 travelled in Greenland, counted more than twenty 
 different sorts without moving from a rock upon 
 which he one day happened to be seated. 
 
 Mosses possess the singular faculty of reviving 
 when moistened, after having become dry and to 
 all appearance withered ; and even after they have 
 been gathered and kept in a dry state for some 
 years, if put into water, every part of them will 
 expand and become almost as fresh as if they were 
 really growing. They overspread the trunks and
 
 62 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 roots of trees, and defend them in the winter from 
 frost, and cold biting winds ; in wet weather they 
 preserve them from decay and, during drought, 
 provide them with moisture and protect them from 
 the scorching heat of the sun. It has been ob- 
 served, too, that moss grows principally on that 
 side of the -trunks and branches of trees which is 
 exposed to a northern aspect. 
 
 The poor Laplanders derive several of their com- 
 forts from mosses. Of the Golden Maiden-hair, a very 
 large species, they form excellent beds by cutting 
 thick layers of it, one of which serves as a mattress 
 and another as a coverlet. Linnaeus tells us that 
 he often slept in such a bed when he was travelling 
 in Lapland. Those mossy cushions are very elastic, 
 and so light, that a bed may be rolled up into a 
 parcel small enough to be carried by a man under 
 his arm, so that the inhabitants of that region can 
 easily take them about with them in their journeys. 
 Such beds do not grow hard by pressure, and, 
 even when they lose some of their elasticity from 
 long use, it can soon be restored by plunging them 
 in water. 
 
 The Lapland women make great use of the grey 
 Bog-Moss, which is particularly soft, like thick fur,
 
 WINTER. 63 
 
 or a fleece of wool. They wrap up their infants 
 in it without any other clothing, and place them 
 in cradles made of leather and lined with moss, 
 and in those soft, warm nests, the little creatures 
 are completely defended from the cold. The Green- 
 landers use this sort of moss for tinder, and for 
 wicks to their oil-lamps. 
 
 The structure of the Mosses is so beautiful and 
 so wonderful, that they are objects of the greatest 
 interest and admiration to all who study them. 
 Mungo Park, a Scotchman of undoubted fortitude 
 and courage, who ventured alone into the great un- 
 known regions of Africa, in the account he gives 
 us of his travels, says : " I found myself in the 
 midst of a vast wilderness, helpless and alone, sur- 
 rounded by savage animals, and by men still more 
 savage. I was at least five hundred miles from the 
 nearest European settlement ; I considered my fate 
 as certain, and that I had no alternative but to lie 
 down and perish. At that moment, the extraor- 
 dinary beauty of a small moss irresistibly caught 
 my eye, and, though the whole plant was not so 
 large as the top of one of my fingers, I could not 
 contemplate the delicate conformation of its little 
 roots, leaves, and capsules, without feeling intense
 
 64 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 admiration. Can that Being, I thought, who planted, 
 watered, and brought to perfection in this obscure 
 part of the world, a thing which appears to be of 
 such small importance, look with unconcern upon 
 the loneliness and sufferings of creatures made after 
 His own image ? Reflections like these would not 
 allow me to despair. I started up and, regardless 
 of hunger and fatigue, travelled forwards, assured 
 that relief was at hand; and I was not disap- 
 pointed." 
 
 The rough yellow and bluish-green crusts that 
 we find growing upon the stems and branches of 
 old Apple trees and Gooseberry bushes, are called 
 Lichens. (Fig. 3.) Lichens have neither stalks, 
 leaves, nor roots. They generally consist of a sort 
 of flattened frond, which forms an irregular patch 
 or a roundish rosette with the outer edges more 
 or less cut or notched into scollops. The under 
 surface is fixed upon the bark of trees or upon 
 rocks, old buildings, palings, and other solid bodies, 
 by means of certain little black root-like fibres, 
 which are not real roots, but cells prolonged into 
 that fibrous form. The upper surface is usually 
 sprinkled with raised spots, some of them like 
 warts, others like little cups lined with yellow, or
 
 WINTER. 65 
 
 edged with scarlet, and others again are still more 
 open, like shallow saucers. In those raised spots 
 the fructification is going on in various stages of 
 its progress towards maturity. On opening some 
 of them vertically, we find in the cavity several 
 cells placed side by side. Each of those cells con- 
 tains lesser cells, which are supposed to be the 
 spore-cases. (Fig. 3.) 
 
 Some Lichens form a scaly, or a foliaceous crust, 
 some consist of nothing but a very fine powder or 
 dust, and others are composed of masses of thread- 
 like substances. Several botanists are of opinion 
 that the light cobweb-like matter that overruns 
 the grass early in the morning, in spring and 
 autumn, is of this nature. They are all supposed 
 to absorb their nourishment from the air. Like 
 the Mosses, Lichens are found to thrive in every 
 climate, and like them they have the faculty of 
 reviving, when placed in situations adapted to 
 them, though they may have been kept in a dry 
 state for many years. They are not destroyed by 
 either excessive heat or extreme cold, and are found 
 growing where no other vegetation is to be seen. 
 
 One species of Lichen, called the Keindeer Moss, 
 is the most valuable vegetable that grows in Lap- 
 
 F
 
 66 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 land, for it is the principal food of the reindeer, 
 without which animal the people in that miserable 
 country could scarcely subsist. The reindeer draws 
 them in sledges over tracts buried in snow ; its 
 flesh and milk afford them nourishment ; its skin 
 clothing ; and even its bones and sinews are con- 
 verted into several useful articles. This Lichen 
 grows to the height of at least a foot, and is of a 
 whitish or very pale grey colour, so that, where it 
 grows, the ground looks as if it were covered with 
 snow. In our own country it is found in some moun- 
 tainous situations, but seldom attains the height of 
 more than six inches. The inhabitants of Iceland 
 contrive to prepare very nourishing food from an- 
 other species of Lichen called the Iceland Moss, 
 which grows there abundantly. The plants called 
 Tripe de Koche, upon which the Canadian hunters 
 often subsist when better food is scarce, are different 
 species of eatable Lichens. 
 
 Several species of other Lichens afford very 
 beautiful dyes. One of them, the Dyer's Lichen or 
 Orchall, Roccella tinctoria, is especially valuable on 
 account of the fine purple and crimson colour it 
 gives to wool and silk. It comes chiefly from the 
 Canary Islands. The purple powder called Cudbear,
 
 WINTER. 67 
 
 a corruption of Cuthbert, the name of its discoverer, 
 which dyes cotton, but no animal substance, is 
 obtained from another species, the Lecandra perella, 
 which is common in England. 
 
 There is a species of Lichen, the Lecanora escu- 
 lenta, which is looked upon as a great delicacy. It 
 is found on the most barren mountains in the deserts 
 of Tartary and grows upon the ground amongst 
 the rough stones, which it resembles so nearly in 
 colour that it requires an experienced eye to find it. 
 Monsieur Parrot, a French traveller in Persia, relates 
 that early in the year 1828, large quantities of the 
 Lecanora fell like a shower of rain in different parts 
 of that country, no person being able to discover 
 whence it came. The cattle eagerly devoured it, 
 and the poor people collected it as if it had been 
 manna from Heaven, and made it into excellent 
 bread. 
 
 The nearer we approach the north and south 
 poles, the more we find the earth to abound with 
 Lichens ; the kind of plants next in number, in 
 drawing towards the equator, being the Mosses, and 
 next to them the Grasses. 
 
 What we call Sea-weeds, are plants that grow in 
 sea water. They include several genera. Other 
 
 F 2
 
 68 THE FOUK SEASONS. 
 
 plants thrive only in fresh water, and include several 
 species of Conferva and other genera. Both kinds 
 of aquatic plants are comprised under the name of 
 Algse, plural of Alga, the Latin word for Sea-weed. 
 The Algse take every variety of form. Some have 
 the appearance of a frond, others resemble a flattened 
 leaf, a smooth ribbon, or a round cord. Occa- 
 sionally they are like globular fibres either striking 
 out singly or disposed as a string of beads. In 
 colour they are generally olive-green, pinkish-purple, 
 crimson, or of a bright grassy-green. Those plants 
 often grow floating in ,the water without any sup- 
 port, but they are usually fixed to the bottom of the 
 sea, or to rocks under water, by the base of their 
 fronds, which branches out in such a manner as to 
 take a firm hold. If the fronds receive a wound, 
 numbers of young shoots are thrown out from the 
 injured parts, so great is the vitality of this tribe. 
 (Fig. 4.) 
 
 In some of the western islands of Scotland, the 
 Bladder-Fucus or Sea- Wrack often serves as winter 
 food for the cattle, which go down to the shore 
 to eat it when the tide is out. Linnseus tells us 
 that in Gothland the people boil this plant in w T ater 
 and mix it with meal to feed their hogs. But one
 
 WINTER. 69 
 
 of the most important purposes to which sea-weeds 
 are applied, is the preparation of kelp, a kind of 
 salt which is the principal ingredient in the manu- 
 facture of soap, and in making glass. 
 
 In Scotland, the Sea-Tangle and the Dulse, two 
 species of Fucus, so called from tyv^s, the Greek 
 word for Sea-weed, are dried and eaten. The 
 stems of the Tangle are used for making knife- 
 handles, a thick stem being cut into pieces of the 
 proper length and the hilt of a knife stuck into 
 each. The stem contracts in drying, and hardens 
 firmly round the hilt till it has the appearance 
 of horn. The thicker stems are dried and used 
 for firing. 
 
 The size that some of the larger kinds of sea- 
 weeds attain, and the rapidity of their growth, are 
 perfectly astonishing. The Gigantic Fucus is said 
 to extend often to the* length of a thousand or 
 fifteen hundred feet, and it grows in such profusion 
 that large masses of it resemble islands. In the 
 Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans there are vast 
 tracts of sea-weeds, one of which has been called 
 by navigators the Grassy Sea, on account of its 
 great extent. The surface of the sea, in such 
 places, is literally covered with those plants, and
 
 70 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 ships on their voyages are often several days in 
 steering their way through them. 
 
 In China, a species of Fucus is dissolved and em- 
 ployed like glue, as gum is used by us. When 
 washed and steeped in warm water it dissolves, 
 and, as it cools, stiffens into a clear colourless glue, 
 with which large sheets of paper are coated over in 
 order to make them transparent. The paper so 
 prepared is used instead of glass for lanterns and 
 windows. In Japan, windows are sometimes made 
 of slips of split bamboo, which are crossed lozenge- 
 wise, and the spaces between filled up with thin 
 flakes of this glue alone. The nests of a kind of 
 swallow are eaten as a delicacy in China and 
 throughout the East, and are even imported to 
 London. Those nests, it is supposed, are made by 
 the birds almost entirely of a species of sea-weed 
 called the Fucus lichenoides, or Lichen-like Fucus. 
 And here it may be observed, that in words which 
 end in oides, those five letters should make three 
 syllables, the i being long. We ought to say, there- 
 fore, li-ken-o-eye-des, and not li-ken-o-ides. 
 
 Sometimes, early in Winter or late in the Autumn, 
 we see under trees, and close to park palings, a 
 number of little whitish dots or tubercles peeping up
 
 WINTER. 71 
 
 from amongst the damp grass and decayed leaves. 
 Each of those tubercles is a young Mushroom, as we 
 should find if we returned to the spot in the course 
 of a few days, for plants of the Fungus tribe are 
 generally of very rapid growth and short duration. 
 Funguses or Fungi, the g soft and the i long, have 
 no leaves, their whole substance being fleshy. Seve- 
 ral of the wild funguses are wonderfully beautiful in 
 colour and form, but some are fearfully poisonous. 
 The best way to avoid them is to follow the tradi- 
 tions respecting them of the people of the country 
 where they grow, and to be guided by their expe- 
 rience. It would, no doubt, be still more prudent 
 never to venture to eat any sort of Fungus, of the 
 nature of which we could not feel perfectly sure our- 
 selves. The only kind ever eaten in England is the 
 field Mushroom, Agar'icus campestris. It is cultivated 
 in hotbeds, and grows wild in parks and fields that 
 have been for a long time undisturbed by the plough. 
 Its appearance is by no means striking. The crown, 
 which is the receptacle, and the foot-stalk, are white, 
 and what we call the Plates or Gills, which grow 
 underneath the crown, like a lining, are of a delicate 
 pink or salmon-colour while young, but become deep 
 cinnamon-brown as the plant grows older.
 
 72 THE FOUR SEASONS. 
 
 At first the gills are concealed by a white mem- 
 brane composed of parallel threads, none of them 
 crossed, which makes the tissue extremely light 
 and fragile. This membrane extends from the 
 lower edge of the crown to the foot-stalk like a 
 sort of bag or inverted umbrella. As the Mush- 
 room developes it falls off, and nothing remains of 
 it but a sort of ruffle or frill round the foot-stalk, 
 near its top. 
 
 When the Mushroom is very young it is enclosed 
 in a white membrane that wraps it up, as if in 
 a bag, from the top of the crown to the bottom of 
 the foot-stalk. This covering is called the Volva, 
 which is the Latin word for a wrapper or covering. 
 The smaller membrane that connects the crown 
 with the footstalk is called the Cortina ; cortina 
 being the Latin for the cover of a caldron-shaped 
 vessel. 
 
 When the fine threads, from which the young foot- 
 stalks spring, are not placed in a position favour- 
 able to the growth of those foot-stalks, they take 
 the name of Byssus. What is called the Dry-rot 
 in wood is said to be occasioned by peculiar kinds 
 of Byssus, of which the texture is so light as to 
 be dispersed by the slightest breath, like the finest
 
 WINTER. 73 
 
 cobweb, or wool ; and yet, in time, they can destroy 
 the hardest and closest grained wood. 
 
 When we look at the surface of one of the gills of 
 the Mushroom through a magnifying glass, we see 
 nothing but that it has a velvety appearance. It is 
 only with the help of a very powerful microscope 
 that its real structure can be discovered. It is then 
 found that it consists of distinct layers of cells, 
 some of those which are tallest, on each surface of 
 the gill, terminating in four points, each point sup- 
 porting a minute globular bag of a brown colour. 
 Those little brown bags, four and four of them at 
 the extremities of some of the cells, are called 
 spore-cases. The brown colour of the plate or 
 gill in its mature state is owing to their presence. 
 (Fig. 5.) The spores of some of the Fungus 
 family are so exceedingly minute, that they resemble 
 smoke or vapour rather than fine dust. This you 
 can see in Puff-balls and Earth-Stars. The spore- 
 case in the Earth-Star is a brown bag-like cell, in 
 shape like a hyacinth-bulb, with a hole at the top 
 through which the ripe spores escape, as smoke 
 escapes through a chimney. 
 
 The orange-coloured or rusty-looking spots that 
 we often perceive on the under surface of the leaves
 
 74 THE POUR SEASONS. 
 
 of a Eose tree, are groups of a parasitical Fungus, 
 called Uredo. It is at first developed in the green 
 pulpy substance of the leaf beneath the skin, and 
 at a later period of its growth it takes the form of 
 a flattened tubercle covered with cells of different 
 colours and forms. (Fig. 6.) 
 
 The best and most original works that relate to 
 the Fungus family, are "Kecherches sur THyme- 
 nium des Champignons," and "Recherches sur le 
 developpement des Uredinees," by Dr. Leveille. 
 
 What we call Mouldiness is a sort of Fungus 
 of which the spores float in the air till they fix 
 themselves upon different substances and fluids, 
 such as paste, preserved fruit, and ink, where they 
 take root and spread rapidly. Some of the species 
 are composed of a little stalk with a very tiny 
 globular head filled with granules of a green 
 colour, others are tufts of a soft cotton-like sub- 
 stance on a blue and yellow sort of crust, and 
 some consist of little cells ranged in a circle, which 
 burst, and disperse the spores as fast as they ripen. 
 
 Mouldiness and Mildew are effectually prevented 
 by any kind of perfume, or essential oil. It is well 
 known that books bound in Russia leather are never 
 touched by Mildew.
 
 WINTER. 75 
 
 In the structure of the several plants of which 
 we have spoken, the order and regularity, the 
 exceeding fitness of the different parts for their 
 appointed work, strike us as something marvellous. 
 The most lavish richness of texture, form, and 
 colour, and yet no jostling, no confusion, no waste of 
 materials or of space. When Galen, one of the 
 oldest Greek philosophers, was giving a public lec- 
 ture on the structure of the hand and foot, he said : 
 " In explaining these things, I esteem myself as 
 composing a solemn hymn to the Great Maker of 
 our bodily frame, in which I think there is more 1 
 true piety than in sacrificing hecatombs of oxen, or 
 in burning the most costly perfumes ; for I first 
 endeavour from His works to know Him myself, 
 and afterwards, by the same means, to show Him 
 to others, to inform them how great is His wisdom, 
 His goodness, His power." Such were the ideas 
 suggested by the study of anatomy to the mind of 
 a pagan ideas alike reverent and ennobling; but 
 we, as Christians, can learn a still diviner lesson 
 when we consider the lilies of the field how they 
 grow, and are reminded of Him who told us to 
 emulate their contentment and quiet happiness. 
 
 THE END.
 
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 K. CLAY, SON. AND TAYLOR, PKIXTEKS, 
 BKEAD STREET HILL.
 
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 PUBLISHED BY GRIFFITH AND FARRAN. 13 
 
 THE LATE THOMAS HOOD. 
 
 Fairy Land; 
 
 Or, Recreation for the Rising Generation, in Prose and Verse. By 
 THOMAS and JANE HOOD. Illustrated by T. HOOD, Jun. Second 
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 Or, the Gipsy Children; a Story founded on fact. By the Author of 
 " The Triumphs of Steam," ' Our Eastern Empire," etc. With Illustra- 
 tions by JOHN GILBERT. Fcap. 8vo. price 4s. 6rf. cloth; 5s. gilc edges. 
 
 The Triumphs of Steam; 
 
 Or, Stories from the Lives of Watt, Arkwright, and Stephenson. With 
 Illustrations by J. GILBERT. Dedicated by permission to Robert 
 Stephenson, Esq., M.P. Second edition. Royal I6mo, price 3s. 6d. 
 cloth ; 4s. 6d,, coloured, gilt edges. 
 " A most delicious volume of examples."-- Art Journal. 
 
 Our Eastern Empire; 
 
 Or, Stories from the History of British India. Second Edition, with 
 Continuation to the Proclamation of Queen Victoria. With Four 
 Elustrations. Royal I6mo. cloth 3*. 6rf.; 4s. 6d. coloured, gilt edges. 
 " These stories are charming, and convey a general view of the progress of our Empire in 
 the East. The tales are told with admirable clearness." Athenaeum. 
 
 Might not Right; 
 
 Or, Stories of the Discovery and Conquest of America. Illus- 
 trated by J. Gilbert. Royal 16mo. price 3s. 6<f. cloth; 4s. 6<f. 
 coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 " With the fortunes of Columbus, Cortes, and Pizarro, for the staple of these stories, the 
 writer has succeeded in producing a very interesting volume." lUuttrated A'eirj. 
 
 Tuppy; 
 
 Or the Autobiography of a Donkey. By the Author of " The Triumphs 
 of Steam," etc., etc. Illustrated by HARRISON WEIR. Super Royal 
 16mo. price 2s. Gd. cloth; 3s. Qd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 " A very intelligent donkey, worthyof the distinction conferred upon him by the artist." 
 Art Journal.
 
 14 NEW AND INTERESTING WORKS 
 
 1. The History of a Quartern Loaf. 
 
 in Khymes and Pictures. By WILLIAM NEWMAN. 12 Illustrations. 
 Price Gd. plain, Is. coloured. 2s. Gd. on linen, and bound in cloth. 
 
 Uniform in size and price, 
 
 2. The History of a Cup of Tea. 
 
 3. The History of a Scuttle of Coals. 
 
 4. The History of a Lump of Sugar. 
 
 5. The History of a Bale of Cotton. 
 
 6. The History of a Golden Sovereign. 
 
 *** Nos. 1 to 3 and 4 to 6, may be had bound in Two Volumes. Cloth 
 price 2s. each, plain; 3s. Gd. coloured. 
 
 Distant Homes; 
 
 Or, the Graham Family in New Zealand. By Mrs. I. E. AYLMEK.. 
 With Illustrations by J. JACKSON. Super Royal 16mo. price 3s. Gd. 
 cloth ; 4s. Gd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 " English children will be delighted with the history of the Graham Family, and l>o 
 enabled to form pleasant and truthful conceptions of the ' Distant Homes' inhabited by 
 their kindred." Athenaum. 
 
 Neptune's Heroes : or The Sea Kings of England; 
 
 from Hawkins to Franklin. By W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS. Illustrated 
 by MORGAN. Fcap. 8 vo; price 5s. cloth; 5s. Qd. gilt edges. 
 
 "We trust Old England may ever have writers as ready and able to interpret to her 
 children tho noble lives of her greatest men." Athenceum. 
 
 Hand Shadows, 
 
 To be thrown upon the Wall. By HENRY BURSILL. First and Second 
 Series each containing Eighteen Original Designs. 4to price 2s. each 
 plain ; 2s. Gd. coloured. 
 
 " Uncommonly clever some wonderful effects are produced." The Press.
 
 PUBLISHED BY GRIFFITH AND FARRAN. 15 
 
 BY W. H. C. KINGSTON. 
 
 Our Soldiers; 
 
 Or, Anecdotes of the Campaigns and Gallant Deeds of the British 
 Army during the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. By W. H. G. 
 KINGSTON. With Frontispiece from a Painting in the Victoria Cross 
 Gallery. Second Edition. Fcp. 8vo. price 3s. cloth; 3s. Kd. gilt edges. 
 
 Our Sailors; 
 
 Or, Anecdotes of the Engagements and Gallant Deeds of the British 
 
 Navy during the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. By W. H. G. 
 
 KINGSTON. With Frontispiece. Second Edition, Fcap. 8vo. 
 
 price 3s. cloth; 3s. Gd. gilt edges. 
 
 " These volumes abundantly prove that both our officers and men in the Army and Navy, 
 have been found as ready as ever to dare, and to do as was dared and done of yore, when 
 led by u Nebon or a Wellington." 
 
 W. H. C. KINGSTON'S BOOKS FOR BOYS- 
 
 With Illustrations. Fcap. 8vo. price 5s. each, cloth; 5s. &d. gilt edges. 
 
 True Blue; 
 
 Or, the Life and Adventures of a British Seaman of the Old School. 
 
 " There is about all Mr. Kingston's tales a spirit of hopefulness, honesty, and cheery 
 pood principle, which makes them most wholesome, as well as most interesting reading." 
 Era,. 
 
 " With the exception of Capt. Marryat, we know of no English author who will compare 
 with Mr. Kingston as a writer of books of nautical adventure." Illustrated News. 
 
 Will Weatherhelra; 
 
 Or, the Yarn of an Old Sailor about his Early Life and Adventures. 
 
 Fred Markham in Russia ; 
 
 t 
 
 Or, the Boy Travellers in the Land of the Czar. 
 
 Salt Water; 
 
 Or Neil D'Arcy's Sea Life and Adventures. With Eight Illustrations. 
 
 Mark Seaworth; 
 
 A Tale of the Indian Ocean. With Illustrations by J. ABSOLON. 
 Second Edition. 
 
 Peter the Whaler; 
 
 His early Life and Adventures in the Arctic Regions. Third Edition. 
 Illustrations by E. DUNCAN.
 
 16 NEW AND INTERESTING WORKS 
 
 Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles, and Ditties. 
 
 Illustrated by C. H. BENNETT, With Ninety Engravings. New 
 Edition. Fcap. 4to., price 3s. Gd. cloth, plain, or 6s. coloured. 
 
 " The illustrations are all so replete with fun and imagination, that we scarcely know 
 who will be most pleased with the book, the good-natured grandfather who gives it, or the 
 chubby grandchild who gets it, for a Christmas-Box." Notet and Queries. 
 
 Home Amusements. 
 
 A Choice Collection of Riddles, Charades, Conundrums, Parlour. 
 Games, and Forfeits. By PETER PUZZLEWELL, Esq., of Rebus Hall. 
 New Edition, with Frontispiece by PHIZ. 16mo, 2s. Gd. cloth. 
 
 Clara Hope; 
 
 Or, the Blade and the Ear. By Miss MILNEB. With Frontispiece 
 by Birket Foster. Fcap. 8vo. price 3s. Gd. cloth; 4s. Gd. cloth elegant, 
 gilt edges. 
 
 "A beautiful narrative, showing how bad habits may be eradicated, and evil tempers 
 subdued." British Mother's Juttrnal. 
 
 Pages of Child Life; 
 
 By CATHARINE AUGUSTA HOWELL, author of " Pictures of School 
 Life." With Three Illustrations. Fcap. 8vo., price 3s. Gd. cloth. 
 
 The Adventures and Experiences of Biddy Dork- 
 
 ING and of the FAT FROG. Edited by MRS. S. C. HALL. Illustrated 
 by H. Weir. 2s. Gd. cloth; 3s. Gd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 " Most amusingly and wittily told." Morning Herald. 
 
 
 
 Historical Acting Charades ; 
 
 Or, Amusements for Winter Evenings, by the author of " Cat and 
 Dog," etc. New Edition. Fcap. 8vo., price 3s, Gd. cloth gilt edges. 
 
 "A rare book for Christmas parties, and of practical value." Illustrated News. 
 
 The Story of Jack and the Giants : 
 
 With thirty-five Illustrations by RICHARD DOYLE. Beautifully printed. 
 New and Cheaper Edition. Fcap. 4to. price 2s. Gd. cloth; 3s. Gd. 
 coloured, extra cloth, gilt edges. 
 
 " In Doyle's drawings we have wonderful conceptions, which will secure the book a 
 place amongst the treasures of collectors, as well as excite the imaginations of children." 
 Illustrated Times.
 
 PUBLISHED BY GRIFFITH AND FARRAN. 17 
 
 Granny's Wonderful Chair; 
 
 And its Tales of Fairy Times. By FRANCES BROWNE. Illustrations 
 by KENNY MEADOWS. 3s. 6rf. cloth, 4s. 6rf. coloured. 
 
 " One of the happiest Mendings of marvel and moral we have ever seen." Literary 
 Gatette. 
 
 The Early Dawn; 
 
 Or, Stories to Think about. Illustrated by H. WEIR, etc. Small 
 4to. ; price 2s. 6<f. cloth ; 3s. &d. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 Angelo ; 
 
 Or, the Pine Forest among the Alps. By GERALDINE E. JEWSBURT, 
 author of " The Adopted Child," etc. Illustrations by J. ABSOLON. 
 Second Edition. Price 2s. 6rf. cloth; 3s. 6d. coloured, gilt edges. 
 "As pretty a child's story as one might look for on a winter's clay." Examiner. 
 
 Tales of Magic and Meaning. 
 
 Written and Illustrated by ALFRED CKOWQUILL. Small 4to. ; price 
 3s. 6d. cloth; 4s. 6<i coloured. 
 
 " Cleverly written, abounding in frolic and pathos, and inculcates so pure a moral, that 
 we must pronounce him a very fortunate little fellow, who catches these ' Tales of Magic,' 
 as a windfall from The Christmas Tree'." Athenaum. 
 
 Faggots for the Fire Side ; 
 
 Or, Tales of Fact and Fancy. By PETER PARLEY. With Twelve 
 Tinted Illustrations. New Edition. Foolscap 8vo.; 3s. (jd., cloth; 
 4s. dd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 " A new book by Peter Parley is a pleasant greeting for all boys and girls, wherever the ; 
 
 English language is spoken and read. He has a happy method of conveying information, 
 
 while seeming to address himself to the imagination." The Critic. 
 
 Letters from Sarawak, 
 
 Addressed to a Child ; embracing an Account of the Manners, Cus- 
 toms, and Religion of the Inhabitants of Borneo, with Incidents of 
 Missionary Life among the Natives. By Mrs. M'DOUGALL. Fourth 
 Thousand, with Illustrations. 3s. 6d. cloth. 
 " All is new, interesting, and admirably told." Church and State Gazette. 
 
 Kate and Rosalind; 
 
 Or, Early Experiences. By the author of " Quicksands on Foreign 
 Shores," etc. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d. cloth; 4s. gilt edges. 
 
 " A book of unusual merit. The story is exceedingly well told, and the characters are 
 drawn with a freedom and boldness seldom met with." Church of England Quarterly. 
 
 ' We have not room to exemplify the skill with which Puseyism is tracked and detected. 
 The Irish scenes are of an excellence that has not been surpassed since the best days of 
 Miss Edgeworth." Fraser's Magazine.
 
 NEW AND INTERESTING WORKS 
 
 | ' 
 
 Clarissa Donnelly; 
 
 Or, The History of an Adopted Child. By GERALDINE E. 
 JEWSB0RY. With an Illustration by JOHN ABSOLON. Fcap. Svo, 
 3s. 6d. cloth; 4s. gilt edges. 
 
 "With wonderful power, only to be matched by as admirable a simplicity , Miss Jewsbury 
 has narrated the history of a child. For nobility of purpose, for simple, "nervous writing, 
 and for artistic construction, it is one of the most valuable works of the day." Lady't 
 Companion. 
 
 The Discontented Children; 
 
 And How they were Cured. By M. and E. KIRBT. Illustrated 
 by H. K. BROWNE (Phiz.). Third edition, price 2s. fid. cloth; 
 3s. 6<f. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 "We know no better method of banishing 'discontent ' from school-room and nursery 
 than by introducing this wise and clever story to their inmates." Art Journal. 
 
 \ The Talking Bird; 
 
 Or, the Little Girl who knew what was going to happen. By M. and 
 E. KIRBY. With Illustrations by H. K. BROWNE. Second Edition. 
 Price 2s. 6d. cloth; 3*. 6rf. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 Julia Maitland; 
 
 Or, Pride goes before a Fall. By M. and E. KIRBT. Illustrated by 
 ABSOLON. Price 2s. &d. cloth; 3s. Gd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 " It is nenrly such a story as Miss Edgeworth might have written on the same theme." 
 The 1'rets. 
 
 COMICAL PICTURE BOOKS. 
 
 Each with Sixteen large Coloured Plates, price 2s. 6d., in fancy boards, 
 or mounted on cloth, Is. extra. 
 
 Picture Fables. 
 
 Written and Illustrated by ALFRED CROWQUILL. 
 
 The Careless Chicken; 
 
 By the BARON KRAKEJISIDES. By ALFRED CROWQUILL. 
 
 Funny Leaves for the Younger Branches. 
 
 By the BARON KRAKEMSIDES, of Burstenoudelafen Castle. Illustrated 
 by ALFRED CROWQUILL. 
 
 Laugh and Grow Wise; 
 
 By the Senior Owl of Ivy Hall. With Sixteen large coloured 
 Plates. Price 2s. 6<. fancy boards ; or 3s. 6d. mounted on cloth.
 
 PUBLISHED BY GRIFFITH AND FARRAN. 19 
 
 The Remarkable History of the House that Jack 
 
 Built. Splendidly Illustrated and magnificently Illuminated by THE 
 SON OF A GENIUS. Price 2s. infancy cover. 
 
 "Magnificent in suggestion, and most comical in expression ! " Atheiurum, 
 
 A Peep at the Pixies; 
 
 Or, Legends of the West. By Mrs. BRAY. Author of "Life ot 
 Stothard," " Trelawny," etc., etc. With Illustrations by Phiz. Super- 
 royal 16mo, price 3s. 6d. cloth; 4s. 6d. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 " A peep at the actual Pixies of Devonshire, faithfully described by Mrs. Bray, is a 
 treat. Her knowledge of the locality, her affection for her subject, her exquisite feeling 
 for nature, and her real delight in fairy lore, have given a freshness to the little volume 
 we did not expect. The notes at the end contain matter of interest for all who feel a 
 desire to knew the origin of such tales and legends." Art Journal. 
 
 A BOOK FOR EVERY CHILD. 
 
 The Favourite Picture Book; 
 
 A Gallery of Delights, designed for the Amusement and Instruction of 
 the Young. With several Hundred Illustrations from Drawings by 
 J. ABSOLON, H. K. BROWNE (Phiz), J. GILBERT, T. LANDSEE;;, 
 J. LEECH, J. S. PKOUT, II. WEIK, etc. New Edition. Royal 4to., 
 bound in a new and Elegant Cover, price 3s. 6rf. plain; 7s. 6d. coloured; 
 10s. 6d. mounted on cloth and coloured. 
 
 Ocean and her Rulers; 
 
 A Narrative of the Nations who have held dominion over the Sea; 
 and comprising a brief History of Navigation. By ALFRED ELWES. 
 With Frontispiece. Fcap. 8vo, 5s. cloth; 5s. 6d. gilt edges. 
 
 " The volume is replete with valuable and interesting information ; and we cordially 
 recommend it as a useful auxiliary in the school-room, and entertaining companion in the 
 library." Monting Post. 
 
 Sunday Evenings with Sophia; 
 
 Or, Little Talks on Great Subjects. A Book for Girls. By LEONORA 
 G. BELL. Frontispiece by J. ABSOLON. Fcap. 8vo, price 2s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 Blind Man's Holiday ; 
 
 Or Short Tales for the Nursery. By the Author of " Mia and Charlie," 
 " Sidney Grey," etc. Illustrated by John Absolon. Super Royal 
 16mo. price 3s. 6d. cloth; 4s. 6d. coloured, gilt edges.
 
 20 NEW AND INTERESTING WORKS. 
 
 NEW AND BEAUTIFUL LIBRARY EDITION. 
 
 The Vicar of Wakefield; 
 
 A Tale. By OLIVER GOLDSMITH. Printed by Whittinglmm. With 
 Eight Illustrations by J. ABSOLON. Square fcap. 8vo, price 5s., cloth; 
 7*. half-bound morocco, Eoxburghe style; 10s. Gd. antique morocco. 
 
 Mr. Absolon's graphic sketches add greatly to the interest of the volume : altogether, 
 it is as pretty an edition of the ' Vicar ' as we have seen. Mrs. Primrose herself would 
 consider it ' well dressed.' " Art Journal. 
 
 " A delightful edition of one of the most delightful of works : the fine old type and thick 
 paper make this volume attractive to any lover of books." Edinburgh Guardian. 
 
 The Wonders of Home, in Eleven Stories. 
 
 By GRANDFATHER GREY. With Illustrations. Third and Cheaper 
 Edition. Royal 16mo., 2s. 6^. cloth; 3s. Gd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 " The idea is excellent, and its execution equally commendable. The subjects are well 
 selected, and are very happily told in a light yet sensible manner." Weekly Neu-i. 
 
 Cat and Dog; 
 
 Or, Memoirs of Puss and the Captain. Illustrated ,by WEIR. Eighth 
 Edition. Super-royal 1 6mo, 2s. Gd. cloth ; 3s. Gd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 " The author of this amusing little tale is, evidently, a keen observer of nature. The 
 illustrations are well executed ; and the moral, which points the tale, is conveyed in the 
 most attractive form." Britannia. 
 
 The Doll and Her Friends ; 
 
 Or, Memoirs of the Lady Seraphina. By the Author of " Cat and 
 Dog." Third Edition. With Four Illustrations by H. K. BKOWNK 
 (Phiz). 2s. Gd., cloth; 3s. Gd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 Tales from Catland; 
 
 Dedicated to the Young Kittens of England. By an OLD TABBY. 
 Illustrated by H. WEIR. Fourth Edition. Small 4to, 2s. Gd. plain; 
 3s. Gd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 "The combination of quiet humour and sound sense has made this one of the pleasantest 
 little books of the season." Lady's Newspaper. 
 
 Scenes of Animal Life and Character. 
 
 From Nature and Eecollection. In Twenty Plates. By J. B. 4to, 
 price 2s., plain; 2s. Gd., coloured, fancy boards. 
 
 "Truer, heartier, more playful, or more enjoyable sketches of animal life could 
 scarcely be found anywhere." Spectator.
 
 PUBLISHED BY GRIFFITH AND FARRAN. 21 
 
 WORKS BY THE LATE MRS- R. LEE- 
 
 Anecdotes of the Habits and Instincts of Animals. 
 
 Third Edition. With Illustrations by HARRISON WEIK. Fcap. 8vo, 
 3s. 6<f. cloth ; 4s. gilt edges. 
 
 Anecdotes of the Habits and Instincts of Birds, 
 
 REPTILES, and FISHES. With Illustrations by HARRISON WEIR. 
 Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d. cloth ; 4s. gilt edges. 
 " Amusing, instructive, and ably written." Literary Gazette. 
 
 "Mrs. Lee's authorities to name only one, Professor Owen are, for the most part 
 first-rate.' Athenaeum. 
 
 Twelve Stories of the Sayings and Doings of 
 
 ANIMALS. With Illustrations by J. W. ARCHER. Third Edition. 
 Super- royal 16mo, 2s. Gd. cloth; 3s. d. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 Familiar Natural History. 
 
 With Forty-two Illustrations from Original Drawings by HARRISON 
 WEIR. Super-royal 16mo, 3s. 6d. cloth; 5s. coloured gilt edges. 
 %* May be had in Two Volumes, 2s. each plain ; 2s. 6d. Coloured, 
 Entitled " British Animals and Birds." " Foreign Animals and Birds." 
 
 Playing at Settlers; 
 
 Or, the Faggot House. Illustrated by GILBERT. Second Edition. 
 Price 2s. &d. cloth; 3s. 6d. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 Adventures in Australia; 
 
 Or, the Wanderings of Captain Spencer in the Bush and the Wilds. 
 Second Edition. Illustrated by PROUT. Fcap. 8vo., 5s. cloth; 5s. 6d. 
 gilt edges. 
 
 The African Wanderers; 
 
 Or, the Adventures of Carlos and Antonio; embracing interesting 
 Descriptions of the Manners and Customs of the Western Tribes, and 
 the Natural Productions of the Country. Fourth Edition. With Eight 
 Engravings. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. &d. cloth ; 4s. gilt edges. 
 
 " For fascinating adventure, and rapid succession of incident, the volume is equal to any 
 relation of travel we ever read." Britannia. 
 
 ELEGANT GIFT FOR A LADY. 
 
 Trees, Plants, and Flowers; 
 
 Their Beauties, Uses and Influences. By Mrs. R. LEE. With beau- 
 tiful coloured Illustrations by J. ANDREWS. 8vo, price 10s. 6d., cloth 
 elegant, gilt edges. 
 
 " The volume is at once useful as a botanical work, and exquisite as the ornament of a 
 boudoir table." Britannia. "As full of interest as of beauty." Art Journal.
 
 22 NEW AND INTERESTING WORKS 
 
 WORKS BY THE AUTHOR OF MAMMA'S BIBLE STORIES. 
 
 Fanny and her Mamma ; 
 
 Or, Easy Lessons for Children. In which it is attempted to bring Scrip- 
 tural Principles into daily practice. Illustrated by J. GILBERT. Third 
 Edition. 16mo, 2s. 6d. cloth; 3s. 6d. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 "A little book In beautiful large clear type, to suit the capacity of infant readers, which 
 we can with pleasure recommend." Christian Ladies' Magazine. 
 
 Short and Simple Prayers, 
 
 For the Use of Young Children. With Hymns. Fifth Edition. 
 Square 1 6mo, Is. cloth. 
 
 " Well adapted to the capacities of children beginning with the simplest forms which 
 the youngest child may lisp at its mother's knee, and proceeding with those suited to its 
 gradually advancing age. Special prayers, designed for particular circumstances and 
 occasions, are added. We cordially recommend the book." Christian GuarSi^it. 
 
 Mamma's Bible Stories, 
 
 For her Little Boys and Girls, adapted to the capacities of very young 
 Children. Twelfth Edition, with Twelve Engravings. 2s. &d. cloth; 
 3s. &d. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 A Sequel to Mamma's Bible Stories. 
 
 Fifth Edition. Twelve Illustrations. 2s. 6rf. cloth, 3s. 6d. coloured. 
 
 Scripture Histories for Little Children. 
 
 With Sixteen Illustrations, by JOHN GILBERT. Super-royal IGir.o. 
 price 2s. 6d. cloth ; 3s. 6d. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 CONTENTS. The History of Joseph History of Moses History of our 
 Saviour The Miracles of Christ. 
 
 Sold separately : Gd. each, plain ; Is, coloured. 
 
 The Family Bible Newly Opened ; 
 
 With Uncle Goodwin's account of it. By JEFFERYS TAYLOR. 
 Frontispiece by J. GILBERT. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 " A very good account of the Sacred Writings, adapted to the tastes, feelings, and intel- ' 
 ligence ot young people." Educational Times. 
 
 Good in Everything ; 
 
 Or, The Early History of Gilbert Harland. By MRS. BAR-WELL, 
 Author of " Little Lessons for Little Learners," etc. Second Edition. 
 Illustrations by GILBERT. 2s. 6d. cloth; 3s. 6 d., coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 " The moral of this exquisite little tale will do more good than a thousand set tasks 
 abounding with dry and uninteresting truisms." Sell's Messenger.
 
 PUBLISHED BY GRIFFITH AND FARRAIM. 23 
 
 THE FAVOURITE LIBRARY. 
 
 A Series of Works for the Young; -each Volume with an Illustration 
 by a well-known Artist. Price Is. cloth. 
 
 1. THE ESKDALE HERD BOY. By LADY STODDAUT. 
 
 2. MKS. LEICESTER'S SCHOOL. By CHAELES and MARY LAMB. 
 
 3. THE HISTORY OF THE ROBINS. By MRS. TRIMMER. 
 
 4. MEMOIR OF BOB, THE SPOTTED TERRIER. 
 
 5. KEEPER'S TRAVELS IN SEARCH OF HIS MASTER. 
 C. THE SCOTTISH ORPHANS. By LADY STODDART. 
 
 7. NEVER WRONG; or, THE YOUNG DISPUTANT; and "IT 
 
 WAS ONLY IN FUN." 
 
 8. THE LIFE AND PERAMBULATIONS OF A MOUSE. 
 
 9. EASY INTRODUCTION TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF 
 
 NATURE. By MRS. TRIMMER. 
 
 10. RIGHT AND WRONG. By the Author of " ALWAYS HAPPY." 
 
 11. HARRY'S HOLIDAY. By JEFFERYS TAYLOR. 
 
 12. SHORT POEMS AND HYMNS FOR CHILDREN. 
 The-above may be had Two Volumes bound in One, at Two Shillings cloth. 
 
 Glimpses of Nature ; 
 
 And Objects of Interest described during a Visit to the Isle of Wight. 
 Designed to assist and encourage Young Persons in forming habits of 
 observation. By Mrs. LOUDON. Second Edition, enlarged. With 
 Forty-one Illustrations. 3s. Gd. cloth. 
 
 " We could not recommend a more valuable little volume. It is full of information, con~ 
 veyed in the most agreeable manner." Literary Gazette. 
 
 Tales of School Life. 
 
 By AGNES LOUDON. With Illustrations by JOHN ABSOLON. Second 
 Edition. Royal 16mo, 2s. 6d. plain; 3s. 6<f. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 " These reminiscences of school days will be recognised as truthful pictures of eery,-day 
 occurrence. The style is colloquial and pleasant, and therefore well suited to those lor 
 whose perusal it is intended." Atiieneeum.
 
 24 NEW AND INTERESTING WORKS 
 
 Kit Bam, the British Sinbad ; 
 
 Or, the Yarns of an Old Mariner. By MART COWDEN CLARKE, illus- 
 trated by GEORGE CRUIKSIIANK. Fcap. 8vo, price 3s. Gd. cloth; 
 4s. gilt edges. 
 
 The Day of a Baby Boy ; 
 
 A Story for a Young Child. By E. BERGER. With Illustrations by 
 JOHN ABSOLOK. Third Edition. Super-royal 16mo, price 2s. Gd. 
 cloth; 3s. Gd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 " A sweet little book for the nursery." Christian Timet. 
 
 Harry Hawkins's H-Book; 
 
 Shewing how he learned to aspirate his H's. Frontispiece by H. WEIR. 
 Second Edition. Super-royal 16mo, price Gd. 
 
 " No family or school-room within, or indeed beyond, the sound of Bow bells, should bo 
 without this meiTy manual." Art Journal. 
 
 The Ladies' Album of Fancy Work. 
 
 Consisting of Novel, Elegant, and Useful Patterns in Knitting, Netting, 
 Crochet, and Embroidery, printed in Colours. Bound in a beautiful 
 cover. Post 4to, 3s. Gd., gilt edges. 
 
 Visits to Beechwood Farm; 
 
 Or, Country Pleasures. By CATHERINE M. A. COUPER. Illustrations 
 by ABSOLON. Small 4to, 3s. Gd., plain; 4s. Gd. coloured; gilt edges. 
 
 The Modern British Plutarch; 
 
 Or, Lives of Men distinguished in the recent History of our Country 
 for their Talents, Virtues and Achievements. By W. C. TAYLOR, LL.D. 
 Author of "A Manual of Ancient and Modern History," etc. 12mo, 
 Second Thousand, with a new Frontispiece. 4s. 6d. cloth; 5s. gilt edges. 
 
 "A work which will be welcomed in any circle of intelligent young persons." British, 
 Quarterly Review. 
 
 Stories of Julian and his Playfellows. 
 
 Written by His MAMMA. With Four Illustrations by JOHN ABSOLON. 
 Second Edition. Small 4to., 2s. 6<f., plain; 3s. 6d., coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 The Nine Lives of a Cat ; 
 
 A Tale of Wonder. Written and Illustrated by C. H. BENNETT 
 Twenty-four Engravings, price 2s. cloth; 2s. Gd. coloured. 
 
 " Rich in the quaint humour and fancy that a man of genius knows how to spare for the 
 enlivenment of children." Examiner.
 
 PUBLISHED BY GRIFFITH AND FARRAN. 25 
 
 The Celestial Empire ; 
 
 or, Points and Pickings of Information about China and the Chinese. 
 By the late " OLD HUMPHREY." With Twenty Engravings from 
 Drawings by W. H. PRIOR. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. Gd., cloth; 4s. gilt edges. 
 
 " The book is exactly what the author proposed it should be, full of good information 
 good feeling, and good temper." Allen's Indian Mail. 
 
 Maud Summers the Sightless : 
 
 A Narrative for the Yonng. Illustrated by AESOLON. 3.. fid. cloth ; 
 4s. Gd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 London Cries and Public Edifices 
 
 Illustrated in Twenty-four Engravings by LUKE LIMNER; with descrip- 
 tive Letter- press. Square 12mo, 2s. 6rf. plain; 5s. coloured. 
 
 The Silver Swan; 
 
 A Fairy Tale. By MADAME DE CHATELAIK. Illustrated by JOHN 
 LEECH. Small 4to, 2s. 6rf. cloth ; 3s. Gd. coloured, gilt edges. 
 
 A Word to the "Wise ; 
 
 Or, Hints on the Current Improprieties of Expression in Writing and 
 Speaking. By PARRY GWYNNE. llth Thousand. 18mo. price Gd. 
 sewed, or Is. cloth, gilt edges. 
 
 " All who wish to mind their p't and g's should consult this little volume." Gentleman's 
 Magazine. 
 
 Tales from the Court of Oberon. 
 
 Containing the favourite Histories of Tom Thumb, Graciosa and Per- 
 cinet, Valentine and Orson, and Children in the Wood. With Sixteen 
 Illustrations by CROWQUILL. 2s. Gd. plain ; 3s. 6d. coloured. 
 
 Rhymes of Royalty. 
 
 The History of England in Verse, from the Norman Conquest to the 
 reign of QUEEN VICTORIA; with an Appendix, comprising a summary 
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