The Work Of Nature In The Months.

growing usually in moist situations , are poisonous ; to this rule , though , there is one notable exception , the Angelica , Avhich is used as the basis of a SAveetmeat . Referring to the poisonous properties of the Hemlock , Ave cannot forget the philosopher Socrates , who was compelled to drink its deadly juice , nor shall we hardly fail to call to mind the curious , if original , views of the goodness of Providence held by Pliny when he asks" Wherefore hath our Mother Earth brought out poisons in so great a quantity but that

men in distress might make away with themselves 1 " Far differently shall Ave regard the Creator ' s Avays Avhen AA'e dAvell upon the sendee that even deadly plants such as Hemlock and Foxglove , rightly understood and properly applied , render to suffering humanitylengthening not shortening , making happy not cutting off as unendurable , the term of human life ; many a quondam nervous sufferer has reason to be grateful to these plants for the relief they have afforded him . Injudiciously appliedespecially amongst the

, " simples" of villagers of the " "Wise" sort , such plants have wrought much mischief , AA'hich fact seems to have been IOIOAVU to Gerarde , AA'ho says common Marjoram given in Avine is a remedy not only against the " bitings ancl stingings of venomous beasts , " but it also " cureth them that have drunk opium or the juice of black poppy or hemlocks , especially if it be given AA'ith AA'ine ancl raisons of the sun . "

The Foxglove , Avith its lofty steins , handsome leaves , ancl beautiful bells of AA'hite , pink , red , or purple , deserves a separate mention beyond that of its being of such great medicinal A'alue . It is one of the handsomest native floAA'ers Ave have , and there is , perhaps , no move beautiful sight than one of the lanes in tho Yorkshire dales , with its banks Avaving shoulder-high Avith a luxuriant gi'OAvth of Bracken , Male-fern , and Foxglove . Another of the Fig Worts is the Knotted , which frequents woods and moist

grounds ; it may be knoAvn by its tall square stem , notched leaves , heart-shaped at the base ancl tapering to a point , and comparatively insignificant cluster of dingy greenish purple blossoms . This species is named from its knotted root . There is another kind , equally common , which frequents streams , ancl is known as the Water Fig Wort or Water Betony . It may he recognized by a small winged expansion of the angles of its square stem . The odour is disagreeable like that of the Elder . Both species are unwholesomeand disliked

, by cattle , but that they can be eaten Avas proA'ed at the siege of Rochelle by Cardinal Richlieu hi 1628 , when their roots formed the main support of the starving soldiers . The French to this day call the Fig Wort Ilerbe du Siege . Notwithstanding then disagreable odour , the floAvers are attractive to many insects , notably wasps ! There are two other species , the Balm-leaved and the YelloAV , but they are not so common .

Another handsome plant , although hardly , perhaps , a strictly indigenous one is the common Snapdragon that affects the toj ) s of old ancl crumbling Avails . Another variety of this latter jdant is the slender creeping-stemmed Ivy-leaved Snapdragon . The next type of floiver that Ave must notice is the large pea-blossomed or podbearing famdy , for Ave can hardly proceed a yard Avithout treacling upon one or other of them ; here , as Ave speak , at our feet is one member of the tribe—nay , Ave ought to haA'e said branch of the tribefor it is quite a numerous companyAve mean the

Clover—, , Clover Dutch , Clover White , Clover Eed , Trefoil Purple , Trefoil Yellow , Middle , with its zigzag stems and purple blossoms—all unmistakably pea-like or podded , save that instead of the pods hanging upon single stems they are gathered into bunches . In common with all other trefoiled plants—Shamrocks and the like—the Clovers were considered by our ancestors to be antagonistic to evd and " noisome " to AA'andering Avitch or wary AA'izard . The poet alludes to this old notion : —

"Woe , Avoe to the knight Avho meets the green knight , Except on his faulchiou arm , Spell-proof he bear , like the brave St . Clair , The holy Trefoil ' s charm . No doubt the tri-une leaf had to do Avith the foundation of the belief , linking it with the legend of St , Patrick ' s taking , when introducing Christianity into Ireland , as the text of his sermon on the Divine Trinit y in Hnity , the triple leaf of the Shamrock which sprang up from the hole made in the turf by the point of his pastoral staff ,