the Italians, Crespino; and the Russians, by the name of Barbariss. The inner bark of the stem infused in beer is said to cure jaundice; and the boiled roots dye wool of a good yellow. The bark is so astringent as to be commonly used by the Poles in tanning leather; and they also dye this material of a beautiful yellow, by mingling some other ingredients with the bark. The fruits are so sour that birds leave their rich red clusters untouched; but the acid, which is of the nature of oxalic acid, renders the barberry, when crushed in water, a pleasant and cooling drink in fevers; and it is also made into a good jelly. This fruit is used too by confectioners, for various sweetmeats, and makes an elegant garnish for dishes. The Egyptians consider it a valuable remedy in pestilential fevers, when macerated in fennel-water. The fruits of some Asiatic species are dried in the sun, like raisins.

The berries of our common barberry are usually scarlet, but they are sometimes purple or pale yellow. The scent of the flowers, when borne to us by the winds from the distant shrub, is very fragrant, but it is disagreeable when too near. Insects of various kinds seem particularly partial to these blossoms, which are remarkable for the irritability of their stamens. Linnæus first recorded a fact now well known to botanists, and easily observed on any summer's day, that when bees, in search of honey, touch the filaments, the anthers quickly turn inwards, and discharge the pollen. The same effect is instantly produced by touching them with the sharp point of a needle, and is seen, not only in our native species, but in several others.

Dr. Gordon, of Hull, in one of his lectures, thus remarks on the irritability of the stamens of the barberry: "The contractile effect in this case, as far as I have observed, is always much greater than the amount of the cause by which it is produced; and in experiments I have witnessed, that relaxation will take place, at the same time that the mechanical cause which excited the contraction continues to be impressed. Moreover, the stamen of the barberry can be made to contract even after it is cut from the flower, precisely in the same manner as the heart can be excited to action after it has been removed from the body."

There was formerly a strong prejudice amongst farmers against the barberry shrub, because it was considered to injure the crops of wheat, even at the distance of a hundred yards from the spot. A small parasitical fungus, common on the foliage of the shrub, the Ecidium Berberidis, was supposed to generate the dust which, carried from it by the winds, originated the minute fungus that causes the rust on wheat. This opinion must be erroneous, because the rust on corn is caused by the growth of Puccinia graminis, which is a totally different plant from the fungus on the barberry. There is, however, another parasitic plant, still more frequent than this on the shrub, and called the Barberry Mildew (Erisiphe Berberidis). The leaves are sometimes entirely covered with the thin white substance of this parasite, which is seen by the microscope to consist of very delicate forked filaments, with minute dark-coloured globular bodies interspersed among them; and some good botanists have hesitated as to whether this may not have been communicated to the corn-fields; though it is more probable that the circumstances of the situation, or soil, or season, might alike favour the growth of the fungus tribe on both plants. That the barberry is not necessarily injurious to the wheat-field is proved by a communication sent by the well-known botanist, Mr. Charles Babington, to the " Magazine of Natural History." This gentleman says, "As illustrative of the inaccuracy of this idea, a friend of mine residing at Bath mentioned to me, that during the last autumn, when walking round some corn-lands belonging to one of his relatives, who lives in Wiltshire, his attention was particularly called to the very heavy crop in one of the fields, in

the hedge adjoining which he at the same time observed Bérberis vulgáris in plenty. His relative was fully impressed with the idea of the destructiveness of Berberis, and not being a botanist, did not know that it grew there. I may add that the wheat from that field, on being thrashed, completely answered the expectations raised by its fine appearance."

Our common barberry is wild in most European countries. Mr. Lyell, in his "Visit to the United States," remarks of this plant on the banks of the Piscataqua: “The barberry, also, though not indigenous, is very abundant and ornamental in the woods here. It has overrun, in modern times, the shores of New England, and made its way many miles inland, to the great annoyance of the agriculturists. Some naturalists wonder how it can spread so fast, as the American birds, like the European ones, refuse to feed on its rich berries; but if it be true that cattle, sheep, and goats occasionally browse upon this shrub, there is no mystery as to the mode of its migration." Sheep are said to be very fond of it in this country.

Some very handsome species of barberry, now called Mahónia, have been introduced from abroad into our gardens; and none of them is more ornamental than the fine hardy evergreen shrub called the Nepal Barberry.

2. EPIMÉDIUM ALPÍNUM (Alpine Barrenwort).

Root-leaves none; stem-leaf twice ternate; leaflets heart-shaped, serrated, and hairy beneath; nectary yellowish, resembling an inflated membrane. Plant perennial. This elegant little Alpine plant is by no means frequent, and it is doubtful whether it be truly indigenous. It grows in some mountainous woods in Scotland and the north of England. Each stem bears a single delicate leaf ; and in May its panicle of flowers is of a pale yellow colour. Professor Hooker and Dr. Arnold mention, that when seen under a microscope, the anthers of this plant exhibit a singular structure, being formed of two valves, which on opening spring upwards, and suffer the pollen to escape. The French term this plant Le Chapeau d'Evêque; and in other countries besides it has received a name from the fancied resemblance which its petals bear to a clerical hat,—for the Germans call it Bischofsmütze. It is the Mulljesbloem of the Dutch, and the Epimedio of the Italians and Spaniards; while this, or a similar species, is known to the Japanese by the name of Ikaniso. It has been found in Bingley Woods in Yorkshire, about Glasgow and Edinburgh, and on Carrock Fell and Skiddaw, Cumberland.

ORDER III.

NYMPHEACEE-WATER-LILY TRIBE. Sepals 4-6, gradually passing into petals, and then into stamens, all being inserted on a fleshy disk, which surrounds the ovary; stigma sessile, rayed; berry many-celled, many-seeded. Aquatic herbaceous plants, remarkable for their large and beautiful flowers, which are in tropical lands very fragrant, and of brilliant tints. They have large, floating, peltate, or heart-shaped leaves. Several have nutritious roots, which are eaten either roasted or boiled; and their seeds contain a large quantity of starch. That celebrated plant, which has recently occupied so much attention, and been so successfully cultivated at Chatsworththe Victoria Regina-is not only the largest of water-lilies, but the largest aquatic plant known, and a vegetable wonder. M. Schomburgh, who first discovered it on the Berbice, thus characteristically describes it: "A gigantic leaf, from five to six feet in diameter, salver-shaped, with a broad rim of a light green above, and a vivid crimson below, rested upon the water; quite in character with the wonderful leaf is the luxuriant flower, consisting of many hundred petals, passing