The Work Of Nature In The Months.

its lesson of the brevity of our existence in this beautiful Avorld , as bright as brief for us , we shall gather a splendid nosegay of summer floAvers , than Avhich no product of green-house or conservatory can be more lovely , if even it be more proudly grand . Here is the upright stem and the croAvn of

bloom of the deep red Corn-cockle , close by stands the bright Blue-bottle andhard b y the gloAving yelloAv heads of the Corn-Marigold ; here , too ( and , indeed , almost everyAvhere ) , Ave may learn weather-Avisdom of the Shepherd ' s Warning , or Scarlet

Pimpenell , whose property of keeping close in damp Aveather ivas noticed by Sir Francis Bacon ; nor is it by any means a bad clock , for it opens and closes most punctually , although it does shut up shop someAvhat early in the day , being never more than a minute or tAvo past tAVO-o ' clock . Another

hnlliant addition to our posy is the blue Succory , a variety of which plant affords the Chicory , which issuchadecided addition ( pardon ! not improvement ) to our matutinal Coffee . Would we add next a lilac floAver to our bunch , there are the little tufts of Field Madder ; whilst of all the crimson

blossoms none can equal for intensity the Adonis or Pheasant ' s eye . Another handsome lilac floAver is the Knautia , Avhilst a deeper purple is afforded by the Knap-Aveed ; one more to give sweet perfume , so we pluck the Marjoram , and , leaving the

cornfield , take to the lane , whose banks and waste-places are positively covered with such a profusion of floAvering plants , that we can do little more than mention a few by name . There is the Red Dead Nettle , as well as its white sister , of which Bishop Mant has

spoken' And there with whorls encircling graced , Of white and purple-tinted red , The harmless Kettle ' s helmet head ; Less apt with fragrance to delight The smell , than please the curious sight . "

There , too , is the Trailing Tansy or Silver Weed , the SoAvthistle ' s yellow bloom , the hnght golden Avens , the climbing Tufted vetch , the primrose-coloured COAV-wheat , the Black Horehound with its purple buds , with Wild fragrant Basil Th

Parsnep , yme , roe heat-resisting YelloAv Bed-straw or bheeae Eennet , the Musk Thistle , the burdock , the dingy cream-coloured ancl evidentl y dangerous Henbane , the equally Jatal but surpassingly beautiful and

variously-colourecS ^& t ^ fjy ^ and the sus ' picious green-floAvered Dog Mercury ; here too , Ave find the dingy-yellow Ploughman ' s Spikenard , Avith the wrinkled Wood Germander or Garlic Sage , the pale Nipple-Wort , and the splendid MalloAV—there

living apparently on nothing is the Biting Stonecrop or Wall Pepper , and here the acrid but delicately beautiful Wood Sorrel ; next to our hand rises the Viper ' s Bugloss , Avhilst hard by is the once vaunted simple blue Common Agrimony ; but little less precious in the herbalist's catalogue is tho Yarrow or Nose-bleed , Avhilst no less valued in the butler ' s list comes the

bluespangled Borage ; another pretty purpleblossomed plant is the Hedge Woundwort , Avhilst close , to us is the Soap-Avort , with its delicate , rose-coloured petals—do we want a charm , here is Vervain ; do Ave seek beauty , even in a seeming freak of naturehere is the Bee Orchis ; Avhilstif

, , we . Avant bringing back from the flights of fancy to the realities of our mundane existence , here is a reminder ready to our hand in the formidable shape of the Great Nettle . A peep over this hedge , in Avhich the profuse white blossoms of the Guelder

Rose or SnoAvball Tree have given place to those handsome clusters of berries , Avliich though now green , will soon ripen into a vivid crimson , and Ave shall see in the adjoining clover-field one of the most extraordinary objects that Dame Nature presents to us in her vegetable kingdom .

We have but feAV native parasitic plants , but here is one of the most singular . The seed of the Broom Rape or Strangle Vetch , frequently lies dormant in the earth for years , until some plant favourable to its groAvth springs up near it , Avhen it

germinates , and striking its suckers into the root points of its neighbour , quickly establishes that most profitable of all partnerships , a participation in profits Avithout sinking capital in the Avorking machinery . Clover is the favourite stock

upon which this parasite battens , and it may be easily seen , for the stem even of the lesser variety is generally more than a foot high . It presents a strange Avithered appearance , being leafless , but having on its stem scales of a dullreddish brown

, colour : its blossoms are of a dingy purple cast , mixed Avith yehW . If Our collection is not complete , let us c