of them to belong to a different species of bird. Some are thickly covered with dusky spots, and others are of a light blue colour, without any spots at all. The young birds leave the nest as soon as hatched, and take to the water. When they can fly well, the old ones depart with them, and disperse themselves on the sea-coast, where they are found during the autumn and winter. By the middle of July they all leave Scoulton, and are not seen there again till the following spring.—Linn. Trans. vol. xv, Part I, p. 52.

Lichens, during the dearth of other vegetation, form an interesting subject for examination in this, and other winter months. See a paper on Lichens, by Mr. ANDREW KERR YOUNG, of Paisley, in our last volume, p. 54. Consult also Drummond's First Steps to Botany, second edition.

Towards the end of the month, we are gladdened with symptoms of approaching spring. On warm banks, the commencement of vegetation is perceptible. The sap is stirring in the trees, swelling and feeding the buds; and, in gardens, a variety of green things are peeping from the earth, and snowdrops, hepaticas, &c. are actually in bloom. In towns, it is a cheering sight, even while all without is wintry and frosty, to see as we pass, in cottage windows, tufts of crocuses and snowdrops flowering in pots; and in

The SNOWDROP; a Sonnet.

The snowdrop, rising to its infant height,
Looks like a sickly child upon the spot
Of young nativity, regarding not

The air's caress of melody and light

Beamed from the east, and softened by the bright
Effusive flash of gold-the willow stoops

And muses, like a bride without her love,

On her own shade, which lies on waves, and droops
Beside the natal trunk, nor looks above:-

The precipice, that torrents cannot move,

Leans o'er the sea, and steadfast as a rock,
Of dash and cloud unconscious, bears the rude

Continuous surge, the sounds and echoes mock:
Thus Mental Thought enduring, wears in solitude.
Table Book.

those of wealthier dwellings, hyacinths, narcissus, &c. in glasses, displaying their bulbs and long, white, fibrous roots in the clear water below, and the verdure and flowery freshness of summer above. It is a sight truly English; it is in accordance with our ideas of home comfort and elegance. If we are to believe travellers, in no country is the domestic culture of flowers so much attended to as in our own. We trust this will always be a prevailing taste with us. There is something pure and refreshing in the appearance of plants in a room; and watched and waited on, as they generally are, by the gentler sex, they are links in many pleasant associations. They are the cherished favourites of our mothers, wives, sisters, and friends not less dear, and connect themselves, in our minds, with their feminine delicacy, loveliness, and affectionate habits and sentiments.

LEAVES and FLOWERS.

[By H. M. Parker, Author of the Draught of Immortality.]
With tender vine-leaves wreathe thy brow,

And I shall fancy that I see,

In the bright eye that laughs below,
The dark grape on its parent tree.

"Tis but a whim-but, oh! entwine

Thy brow with this green wreath of mine.

Weave of the clover-leaves a wreath,
Fresh sparkling with a summer-shower,

And I shall, in my fair one's breath,

Find the soft fragrance of the flower.

"Tis but a whim-but, oh! do thou

Twine the dark leaves around thy brow.

Oh, let sweet-leaved geranium be
Entwined amidst thy clustering hair,
Whilst thy red lips shall paint to me
How bright its scarlet blossoms are.

"Tis but a whim-but, ob! do thou

Crown with my wreath thy blushing brow.

Oh, twine young rose-leaves round thy head,
And I shall deem the flowers are there,-
The red rose on thy rich cheek spread,
The white upon thy forehead fair.

"Tis but a whim-but, oh! entwine

My wreath round that dear brow of thine.

F

MARCH.

MARCH was so named from the god Mars, to whom Romulus had dedicated it. The sign of this month is Aries.

Remarkable Days

In MARCH 1828.

1. SAINT DAVID.

DAVID, the tutelar saint of Wales, died at a very advanced age, towards the end of the sixth century. -See our former volumes.

There is a singular custom at Bonneval, on the 1st of March. When the young people wish to ascertain whom they shall marry, it is the practice to rise at midnight, exactly as the clock strikes twelve, on the first day of March; they then pace three steps in front of the bed, saying, 'Good morning, March-from March to March, show me, in my sleep, the wife (or husband) whom I shall marry in the course of my life.' They then walk backwards to the bed, go to sleep, and dream (of course); and to the man or woman who appears to them in their sleep, they will, some day, be united. I do not (says M. Le Jeune) give this as an infallible receipt; all that I know is, many people.put faith in it, and some persons assure me they have used it with success.'

2.-SAINT CHAD,

Bishop of Lichfield, died in 673, the year in which Venerable Bede was born.

*5. 1827.-ALESSANDRO VOLTA DIED.

The very same day that deprived France of its celebrated mathematician and astronomer La Place, robbed Italy of its no less eminent Volta, whose discoveries in physical science are among the most important of the last century; and, are so much the more honourable to his talents, as they were all, more or less, the result of study and profound theory.

Volta's principal discoveries and inventions were as follow:-1. The perpetual Electrophorus, a description of which he wrote in June 1775. It is impor

tant to remark this date, as the honour of the invention has sometimes been given to Wilche, of whose experiments Volta was entirely ignorant.-2. The inflammability of the air escaping from the marshes. In 1776 and 1777, Volta published some remarkable letters on this subject.-3. The Voltaic pistol and lamp. These instruments were invented in 1777.-4. The Eudiometer. This instrument, which was invented by Volta in the same year, serves to determine, with a precision until that time unknown, the proportion of the two gases, oxygen and azote, composing the atmospheric air.-5. The Condenser. This instrument, which renders sensible the smallest portions of the electric fluid, was invented by Volta in 1782. --6. The Voltaic pile, of which it may truly be said, that it has been as productive of discoveries, in natural philosophy and chemistry, as the telescope has been in astronomy, or the microscope in natural history. This astonishing invention, and the simple apparatus of which it is composed, were described by Volta in a letter written by him to Sir Joseph Banks. His works were published at Florence, in 1816, by the Chevalier Antinori, under the title of 'Collezione delle Opere del Conte Alessandro Volta.' *5. 1827.-THE MARQUIS DE LA PLACE DIED.

-

Besides numerous articles in the Transactions of the National Institute, the Academy of Sciences, and the Polytechnic School, the following works were written by La Place:-Theory of the Motion and Elliptical Figure of the Planets, 1784; Theory of the Attractions of Spheroids, and the Figure of the Planets, 1785; Exposition of the System of the World, 2 vols. 1796; Treatise on Celestial Mechanism, 4 vols. 1799, 1803, 1805; Analytical Theory of Probabilities, 1812; Philosophical Essay on Probabilities, 1814.

La Place's studies, however, were not confined to the mathematics, geometry, and astronomy: he devoted himself, with considerable ardour, to chemistry: in conjunction with Lavoisier, he invented the Calo

rimeter; and he repeated the experiments of Monge and Cavendish, on the decomposition of water. 7. PERPETUA.

She suffered martyrdom at twenty-two years of age, under the persecution of Severus, in the year 203. 12.-SAINT GREGORY.

Gregory, commonly called the Great, was elevated to the papal chair A.D.590. Zealous for the conversion of Britain, he sent over the monk Augustin, with forty companions, on a mission to the AngloSaxons.

*14. 1757.-ADMIRAL BYNG SHOT.

Several contemporary letters which throw considerable light on the events connected with the fate of Admiral Byng, have been printed by Mr. Ellis, in his Original Letters, Second Series, vol. iv, pp. 378-403. The limited nature of our work precludes the insertion of the whole, and the introduction of a part only of the valuable information on the subject would be useless: our readers, therefore, must be satisfied with this notice; and, we are confident, if they follow up our suggestions, they will not think the space misemployed, which has been devoted to this, and other similar memoranda..

16.-MIDLENT SUNDAY.

Every year, on this day, in most of the communes of the department of the Eure-et-Loir, the young men and maidens, all in their Sunday clothes, and bedecked with ribands of various colours, meet together, and walk round the parish in which they live. Each bears a banner or flag, which is called a banvolle. Every two boys carry between them a manne, or large flat basket with two handles to it, in which they receive the 'benevolences of all well-disposed persons.' This joyous company stop before the door of the houses of the richest persons in the town, plant their banners together in the ground, and dance round them in a circle; and at the close of every dance, each seizes his banner, flourishes it in the air, and cries out le roi boit, the king drinks.' The cadence of the song which accompanies the dance is sufficiently regular, but rather lullabyish, and is much in the style of the nursery songs used to send children to sleep. The custom has existed for a long period of time, and was practised so lately