or, as the same habit is still more elegantly expressed,

"The flower enamoured of the sun,

At his departure hangs her head and weeps,
And shrouds her sweetness up, and keeps
Sad vigils like a cloistered nun,

Till his reviving ray appears,

Waking her beauty as he dries her tears."

Lines scarcely surpassed by Shakspeare himself:

"Her eyes like Marigolds had sheathed their light,

And canopied in darkness sweetly lay,

Till they might open to adorn the day."

From the habit above noticed this flower has obtained the designation of Solis-sponsa, Spouse of the Sun; and, perhaps, with at least as much propriety as

"The proud giant of the garden race,”

which, if equally susceptible, is prevented the like manifestation by a peculiar rigidity, and which sustains its usual appellation merely from the resemblance of its expanded flower to the great luminary. The Marygold and Sun-flower have, at different periods, reciprocally interchanged names, which will account, in some little degree, for the discrepancy of certain poetical descriptions. The loyal and orthodox George Wither, of the sixteenth century, whose fair boast it was,

thus improves our subject.

"That from every thing he saw
He could some invention draw,"

"When with a serious musing I behold
The grateful and obsequious Marygold,
How duly, every morning, she displays
Her open breast, when Titan spreads his rays;

How she observes him, in his daily walk,

Still bending tow'rds him her smell slender stalk;

How, when he down declines, she droops and mourns,

Bedew'd, as 'twere with tears, till he returns ;

And how she veils her flowers when he is gone,

As if she scorned to be looked on

By an inferior eye; or did contemn

To wait upon a meaner light than him:

When this I meditate, methinks the flowers

Have spirits far more generous than ours,
And give us fair examples to despise
The servile fawnings and idolatries,

Wherewith we court these earthly things below,
Which merit not the service we bestow." E.)

This is a very common plant in the corn-fields and vineyards of Portugal, and is used as food for milking cows. The milk yielded by the cows which are fed upon it is very good. When we consider the constant intercourse maintained between Portugal and Falmouth, it is not improbable that the seeds of the plants I found might have been imported from thence. (Thus have various exotics been introduced, and in time become naturalized; as illustrated by other foreign plants now to be observed on Ballast-hills, near Sunderland, and like situations. According to Dr. Penneck, in Jones's Botanical Tour, in the mild climate of Penzance even the Acanthes has fortuitously appeared. E.)

CLASS XX.

CRYPTOGAMIA.*

MISCELLANEÆ.†

EQUISE TUM. Fructifications forming an egg-oblong, ter minal spike.

LYCOPO'DIUM. Capsules axillary, solitary, naked, kidneyshaped, with one cell, and elastic valves.

PILULA'RIA. Capsules four-celled, globular, sessile in the bosom of the leaves at each joint.

ISOETES. Barr. Fl. solitary, within the base of the inner leaves.

Fert. Fl. solitary, within the base of the outer leaves :
Capsules two-celled, (one-celled. Hook. E.)

(In the plants of this Class, the stamens and pistils are either imperfectly, or not at all, known; or not to be numbered accurately. The Orders are all natural families, in general acotyledonous; but certain peculiarities of the Filices seem to indicate an approach to the monocotyledonous organization. Excepting a few Genera included in the first and second Orders, Cryptogamous plants are either so minue in themselves, or in their efflo rescence and organs of fructification, that for their investigation the microscope becomes essentially requisite; and with its aid, so manifold and surprising are the beauties of colour and conformation brought to light, that no genuine admirer of nature will be deterred from prosecuting researches into what may truly be termed a new creation. Subordinate as these tribes of vegetables may appear to our limited conceptions, they doubtless constitute an indispensable link in the great chain of being; and though the ignorance of some, and the indolence of others, may have frequently propounded the query, "Quorsum tantum laboris in rebus adeo tenuibus insumptum? cui bono hæc omnia? the more enlightened student will readily acquiesce in the just reply, "Ut cognoscamus sapientiam CREATORIS, quæ in minimis, non minus elucet, quam in magnis operibus." Dillenius. And thus does it behove the higher intelligence,

"To trace, in nature's most minute design,
The signature and stamp of power divine,
Contrivance intricate, expressed with ease,

Where unassisted sight no beauty sees." Cowper. E.)

+ (The four Genera of this first Order, must be allowed to constitute a somewhat incongruous assemblage, very appropriately named. Some Botanists have proceeded to a further subdivision, forming from them nearly an equal number of Orders, according to a natural system; and a recent authority has included them among the Filices, from which, in general habit, they widely differ. E.)

FILICES.*

(1) Capsules without an elastic ring; in Spikes.

OPHIOGLOS'SUM. Capsules united by an enveloping membrane, so as to form a two-rowed, jointed spike.

OSMUN'DA. Capsules distinct, two-valved, forming a bunchlike spike.

(2) Capsules roundish, on pedicles, encompassed by a jointed elastic ring; and opening irregularly into two parts.

ACROS TICHUM. Capsules covering the whole under surface of the leaf.

POLYPO'DIUM. Capsules forming distinct roundish spots on the under surface of the leaf.

ASPLE'NIUM. Capsules forming straight scattered lines on the under surface of the leaf.

("The production of perfect germinating seeds, contained in capsules, and consequently produced by impregnated fertile flowers, is as clear in Ferns as in Mosses, though nothing is certainly known of their stigmas, any more than of their anthers. We are nevertheless content to plead ignorance on the subject, and to presume, by analogy, that such parts may exist, rather than to assume the idea of some other mode of impregnation hitherto unknown, which would be going contrary to the first principles of philosophy; or, what is worse, returning to the old gratuitous fancies of spontaneous generation." Sm. The opposite conclusions of other eminent phytologists have already been noticed passim. The seeds of these epiphyllospermous plants are so minute as to have been overlooked by the older Botanists; and, according to vulgar notion, were only to be detected, if at all, at the precise hour of the night on which St. John the Baptist was born; and whoever possessed them, had the power of becoming invisible. Hence in the play of Henry IV, "We steal as in a castle, cock-sure; We have the receipt for Fern-seed ; We walk invisible."

And watch mid murmurs muttering stern

The seed departing from the Fern,

'Ere wakeful dæmons can convey

The wonder-working charm away." Leyden.

Vestiges of this strange superstition may still be traced in some parts of England.

"The village maids mysterious tales relate,

Of bright midsummer's sleepless nights; the Fern

That time sheds secret seeds." Bidlake.

Such were the opinions of the darker ages, but that the real seeds of Ferns are produced by natural process, though in an impalpable powder, ought long since to have ceased to be problematical; and no difficulty will be found in effecting their germination, if sprinkled on a suitable soil, in a proper temperature. Vid. Lindsay in Linn. Tr. vol. ii. and Tr. Hort. Soc. vol. iii, E.)

BLECH'NUM. Capsules forming lines adjoining and parallel to the ribs of the leaves.

PTE'RIS. Capsules forming a line at the edge of the leaf. ADIAN TUM. Capsules forming oval spots under the reflexed points of the leaves.

TRICHO'MANES. Capsules solitary, inserted on the very edge of the leaf.

MUSCI.*

SPHAG NUM. Capsules smooth, not fringed, covered with a lid; without a veil.

(Even at the risk of some little repetition, we cannot refrain from endeavouring to attract the attention, especially of the junior student, to these diminutives, (in stature too humble, as it were, to speak for themselves,) by transcribing a succinct, yet comprehensive, passage, on this interesting subject, from an intelligent writer, who justly observes that, "Mosses, by the inconsiderate mind, are generally deemed an useless or insignificant part of the creation. That they are not, is evident from hence; that He who made them has made nothing in vain ; but, on the contrary, has pronounced all his works to be very good." Many of their uses we know; that they have many more which we know not, is unquestionable, since there is probably no one thing in the universe of which we dare to assert that we know all its uses. Thus much we are certain of with respect to Mosses, that, as they flourish most in winter, and at that time cover the ground with a beautiful green carpet, in many places which would be otherwise naked, and when little verdure is elsewhere to be seen; so at the same time they shelter and preserve the seeds, roots, gems, and embryo plants of many vegetables, which would otherwise perish; they furnish materials for birds to build their nests with; they afford a warm winter's retreat for some quadrupeds, such as bears, dormice, and the like; and for numberless insects, which are the food of birds and fishes, and these again the food or delight of men. Many of them grow on rocks and barren places, and, rotting away, afford the first principles of vegetation to other plants, which could never else have taken root there. Others grow in bogs and marshes, and by continual increase and decay fill up and couvert them into fertile pastures, or into peat-bogs, the source of inexhaustible fuel to the polar regions. They are applicable also to many domestic purposes; some are used in dying of yarn, and in medicine; others farnish convenient beds; some are useful in tiling of houses, stopping crevices in walls, packing of brittle wares and the roots of plants for distant conveyance. To which may be added, that all in general contribute entertainment and agreeable instruction to the contemplative mind of the naturalist, at a season when few other plants offer themselves to his view." A superabundance of Moss on orchard fruit-trees often becomes a serious evil, and may arise either from too dry a state of the soil, or more frequently, from excessive damp and crowded growth. The only effectual remedy for the latter inconvenience is under-draining and pruning, and occasionally scraping off the unwelcome parasite with a wooden instrument, or with a piece of rough hair cloth, after soaking rain. It seems not improbable that the astringent quality of Mosses might be applied to useful purposes in the arts. Nor can we enter upon the present Order without acknowledging our obligation to the elaborate "Muscologia Britannica" of Drs. Hooker and Taylor, the professed object of which work is, " to fix this department of Botany upon a firmer basis; and ty facilitating the investigation of one of the most beautiful parts of the creation, to place in a clearer light the wonders of the Divine band." Though we have not materially deviated from the Linnæan Genera, (for, notwithstanding the researches of Muscologists both abroad and at home for half a century, no systematic arrangement has been established which can be

SPLACH'NUM. Capsule on a large fleshy receptacle: Veil

very large.

POLYTRICHUM.

hairy.

Capsule on a very small receptacle: Vei

MNIUM. Capsule with a lid: Veil smooth: Fruit-stalk not issuing out of a fleshy receptacle.

PHAS'CUM. Capsule with a veil, and the rudiment of the lid which does not fall off.

BRY'UM. Capsule with a lid: Veil smooth :* Fruit-stalk terminal, issuing out of a fleshy tubercle.

deemed altogether unexceptionable ;) by embracing, under each species, the experience of the principal modern authorities, and adopting a more general and correct synonymy, the study of this minute tribe will be found to be considerably promoted. It does not appear, as yet, that any other European country affords a greater number of species of Mosses than the British Isles, in which have already been discriminated about three hundred. In Linn. Tr. vol. xiii. may be seen a Memoir by Mr. James Drummond, F.L.S. who occupied himself with the seeds or sporules of Mosses, and succeeded in raising more than thirty different kinds; proving also that those processes of germinating seed which Hedwig called cotyledons, are by no means analogous to those of Phænogamic plants. The seeds, or sporules of Mosses, differ, in toto, from the seeds of the more perfect Orders of plants. They have no integument, no embryo, consequently no radicle and plumule, nor are they essentially necessary for the increase of the plant. The sporule is in itself an homogeneous substance, producing indifferently from its surface roots and stems. (Vid. Nees Von Esenbeck in Act. Acad. Nat. Cur. vol. xii.) The simplicity of the general structure corresponds. The Phænogamous plants, and even the Ferns, are furnished with tubular vessels. In the vegetables in question none such appear; all their parts are composed of but one cellular form.(a) This want of tubular vessels is compensated by the softness, delicacy, and absorbent property of the cellular tissue. No species of Moss is altogether destitute of foliage, not even Buxbaumia aphylla. Nor is there a single instance of a petiolated leaf; neither does any Moss exist having hairy foliage, all are glabrous. Though Mosses are so diminutive as in some instances to be scarcely visible to the naked eye; but which are nevertheless as curious and complicated in their structure as the larger kinds; others will be found to attain two feet in length. Their most genial atmosphere is humidity. When crisped by a burning sun, or even dried for the herbarium, a slight shower, or sprinkling with water, will quickly resuscitate them; so remarkable is their power of rapidly imbibing moisture. The Entomologist will not fail to discover among their roots a number of rare insects, as Linnæus elegantly observes in Syst. Veg. "Hæ radices incolarum fovent; ne adurantur a bruma hyberna; ne exsiccantur a Sirio æstivo; ne evellantur a vicissitudine vernali; ne corrumpantur a putramine autumnali." To facilitate the study of this branch of science, in addition to the well-known works of our own countrymen, and the labours of German and French Physiologists already partially adopted; Prof. Hooker especially recommends" Stirpes Cryptogama Vogeso-Rhenanæ, auctoribus Mougesot et Nestler," containing eight hundred specimens of as many species; Deutschland Moose," or a Moss Pocket-book, by H. C. Funck; and similar collections by Mr. Hobson of Manchester, and Mr. Drummond of Forfar, each of two volumes; nor should the fasciculi now publishing at Oxford be omitted; as not only insuring greater accuracy than the best of plates, but as being far less expensive. E.)

* In B. sessile, tectorum, and striatum, the veil is hairy.

(a) (For ingenious illustrations,(more immediately connected with a natural arrangement of plants,) of the two grand divisions, viz. Cellulares, (Cryptogamous, or Acotyledonous plants,) and Vasculares, (Phanerogamous, or Cotyledonous plants,) we would refer to Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. i. 32-136, et seq. E.)