ence of the various, climates of the earth pear, but likewise every incidental varialan that has been pursued with great zeal y by the learned HUMBOLDT. Indeed, it is Devery one, that plants in general afford a of the mean or average temperature of a ey denote the severity or mildness of win. by their various appearances, the general the seasons. Who does not recognize a imate in the pleasant and delightful county n-in the pleasing foliage of the favourite which gives an air of elegance and cheero this dead and dreary season? Plants are st delicate constitution in respect to tempend most tribes or families affect a certain n a lower degree than which they will not a cooler medium, they mearly leaf; and as perature approximates to that of their na ime, they flower; but it is only in their nagree of temperature that they perfect their The orange, the vine, and the fig, are famimples.

appearances which nature presents in the le kingdom, at this season of the year, are deed; yet, amid the general torpor, revivisgns appear, enough to invite our readers to pon the study of Botany, under the auspices ew Year, which has ever been held favouro fresh projects, and which are now underwith renewed ardour.

any is one of the fairest daughters of Science, aces before her votaries a cornucopia of some most lovely and beautiful productions in nato the young she offers peculiar attractions, ling a charm over the face of creation, and ing an inexhaustible source of innocent pleaand instruction. The present season, too, is fable to the learner, who may now commence, as -e, the race with Nature, and catch all her beau

ties as they rise; the attention is not distracted b the profusion of objects, and time is allowed acquire the necessary elements.

Buds and embryo blossoms, in their silky, down coats, often finely varnished to protect them from th wet and cold, are the principal botanical subjects f observation in January, and their structure is pa ticularly worthy of notice: to the practical ga dener an attention to their appearance is indisper sible, as by them alone can he prune with safet Buds are always formed in the spring preceding the in which they open, and are of two kinds, leaf bud and flower buds, distinguished by a difference shapes and figure, easily discernible by the obser ing eye; the fruit buds being thicker, rounder an shorter than the others-hence the gardener ca judge of the probable quantity of blossom that wi appear:

When all this uniform, uncoloured scene
Shall be dismantled of its fleecy load,
And flush into variety again.

From dearth to plenty, and from death to life,
Is Nature's progress, when she lectures man

In heavenly truth; evincing, as she makes

The grand transition, that there lives and works
A soul in all things, and that soul is God.

He sets the bright procession on its way,
And marshals all the order of the year;

He marks the bounds which Winter may not pass,
And blunts his pointed fury; in its case,
Russet and rude, folds up the tender germ,
Uninjured, with inimitable art;

And, ere one flowery season fades and dies,
Designs the blooming wonders of the next.

COWPE

Buds possess a power analogous to that of seeds and have been called the viviparous offspring o vegetables, inasmuch as they admit of a remova from their original connection, and, its action bein suspended for an indefinite time, can be renewed a pleasure; thus, if a bud which is coated with a resin ous substance be removed from its situation, and the

ich was united to the branch be covered it may be kept for many months, or even ars; and if then planted in the earth with an lass cup over it to prevent the exhalation, ng greater than the power of absorption, duce a tree similar to its parent: each bud, may be regarded as an individual plant. ay be grafted on another tree of the same s the Chinese graft on one pæony plant wery hue and colour, which, when in full ave a very curious, but somewhat fantastic, Mr. Knight has, however, more wisely nded us to transfer the superabundant buds of one tree to another tree that is dethem, thus saving a great quantity of valuit.

ce.

One Spirit-His

Who wore the platted thorns with bleeding brows, ules Universal Nature. Not a flower

ut shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain,
f his unrivalled pencil. He inspires

'heir balmy odours, and imparts their hues,
nd bathes their eyes with nectar, and includes,
n grains as countless as the sea-side sands,
The forms with which he sprinkles all the earth.
Happy who walks with Him! whom what he finds
Of flavour or of scent, in fruit or flower,

Or what he views of beautiful or grand
in Nature, from the broad majestic oak
To the green blade that twinkles in the sun,
Prompts with remembrance of a present GOD!

COWPER.

helleborus niger, or Christmas rose, as it monly called, exhibits its pretty flowers at clement season: the blowing of this plant rmerly regarded as no less than a miracle, by the staff of the devout Joseph of Arimahich was stuck in the ground by him, at abury Priory in Somersetshire, where it has ace continued to bloom and surprise the be

If the season be very mild and favourable he last week of this month, the garden crocus

(c. vernus) puts forth its flower before the leaves a grown to their full length'. It was formerly cultivat to a considerable extent at Walden in Essex (to whi it gave the name of Saffron Walden), for the sake the pistils, which, when gathered, compose the no useless saffron of the shops.

There is a curious circumstance attending this a the other crocuses, that they never produce any se in this country, increasing merely by the root; a when we regard its continuance in full vigour ev since its first introduction in the sixteenth century, shows an almost unlimited power of reproduction the root. Crocuses in great variety are cultivated the villages round Aleppo, and the Arab wom carry them with other flowers through the stree chaunting,- How delightful its season, its Maker h bountiful!' and the roots of some of the species a sold and eaten by the inhabitants, and called mou tain cucumbers, being strung like onions: they a pleasant to eat, and have a nutty flavour. As an agre able contrast to this golden-coloured flower, the sno drop (galanthus nivalis), formerly called fair ma of February,' from its generally appearing in th month, often graces the last days of this. It i modest and elegantly drooping flower.

The china rose (rosa chinensis and rosa semp florens), till lately unknown to us, and at first co sidered only as a greenhouse plant, is now seen blow in the open air, even in the month of Dece ber, often with its red buds mossed with frost. T wallflower (cheiranthus), periwinkle (vinca, ma & minor), and heart's-ease (viola tricolor), a

'Most of the early flowering plants show their blossoms before unfolding of the leaves; thus, when the mezereon, the hazel, and birch, are in flower, there is no appearance of opening buds on t stems; so, likewise, the coit's-foot (tussilago farfara), the batter(tussilago petasites), and many others, burst their way thro

the ground, and expand their flowers long before their large b

easons, still in blow. (See our last volume, Ivy now casts its leaves.

To the Ivy.

Oh! how could fancy crown with thee
In antient days, the God of wine,
And bid thee at the banquet be
Companion of the vine?

Thy home, wild plant, is where each sound
Of revelry hath long been o'er,
Where song's full notes once pealed around,
But now are heard no more.

The Roman, on his battle-plains,
Where kings before his Eagles bent,
Entwined thee, with exulting strains,
Around the victor's tent;

Yet there, tho' fresh in glossy green,
Triumphantly thy boughs might wave,
Better thou lov'st the silent scene,
Around the victor's grave.

Where sleep the sons of ages flown,

The bards and heroes of the past-
Where, thro' the halls of glory gone,
Murmurs the wintry blast;
Where years are hast'ning to efface
Each record of the grand and fair,
Thou in thy solitary grace,

Wreath of the tomb! art there.

Thou, o'er the shrines of fallen gods

On classic plains dost mantling spread,

And veil the desolate abodes

And cities of the dead.

Deserted palaces of kings,

Arches of triumph, long o'erthrown,
And all once glorious earthly things,
At length are thine alone.

Oh! many a temple, once sublime,
Beneath the blue, Italian sky,
Hath nought of beauty left but time,

Save thy wild tapestry :

And, reared midst crags and clouds, 'tis thine

To wave where banners waved of yore;

O'er mould'ring towers, by lovely Rhine

Cresting the rocky shore.

High from the fields of air look down

Those eyries of a vanished race,